BACKGROUND The exact relationship between nucleosome positioning and methylation of CpG islands in human pathogenesis is unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In the present study, we characterized the nucleosome position within the p16 CpG island and established a seeding methylation-specific PCR (sMSP) assay based on bisulfite modification to enrich the p16 alleles containing methylated-C...

CpG islands are useful markers for genes in organisms containing 5-methylcytosine in their genomes. In addition, CpG islands located in the promoter regions of genes can play important roles in gene silencing during processes such as X-chromosome inactivation, imprinting, and silencing of intragenomic parasites. The generally accepted definition of what constitutes a CpG island was proposed in ...

Methylation of DNA in CpG dense regions of gene promoters (CpG islands) is important for transcriptional inactivation of selective genes in normal and neoplastic cells. Here, we present a spreadsheet-based program adapted from Microsoft Excel that is useful for identifying CpG islands and for assisting in the laboratory analysis of DNA methylation of these regions. Upon execution of the program...

CpG island methylator phenotype of breast cancer is associated with widespread aberrant methylation at specified CpG islands and distinct patient outcomes. However, the influence of copy number contributing to the prognosis of tumors with different CpG island methylator phenotypes is still unclear. We analyzed both genetic (copy number) and epigenetic alterations in 765 breast cancers from The ...

CpG island hypermethylation is known to be associated with gene silencing in cancer. This epigenetic event is generally accepted as a stochastic process in tumor cells resulting from aberrant DNA methyltransferase (DNA-MTase) activities. Specific patterns of CpG island methylation could result from clonal selection of cells having growth advantages due to silencing of associated tumor suppresso...

The epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) gene has been found to be highly expressed in carcinomas of various origins; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying the transcriptional regulation of EpCAM remain poorly understood. The purpose of this experiment was to study the relationship between EpCAM gene overexpression and CpG island methylation status in the promoter region in cell cul...

The synthetic unmethylated oligodeoxynucleotides with CpG motifs (CpG ODN) were shown to activate Toll-like receptor 21 (TLR21) and stimulate the innate and adaptive immune system. In this study we tested the expression of TLR21, interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-1β mRNA in the blood after subcutaneous and intraocular application of the class B CpG ODN in chicken. The relative expression ...

INTRODUCTION The plant family Musaceae, composed of bananas, plantains, and ornamental bananas, originally evolved in Southeast Asia and surrounding tropical and subtropical regions (including New Guinea). Africa is a secondary center of diversity. The two genera Ensete and Musa in the family Musaceae are covered here. Please note that this manuscript is not all-inclusive and that much of the c...

Zika virus was first described in the 1940s. During more than all of a century, less than 20 human infections have been reported. Emergence of Zika virus started with a first outbreak in the Pacific area in 2007 (Federated States of Micronesia), a second large outbreak occurred in the Pacific in 2013/2014 (French Polynesia) and subsequently the virus spread in other Pacific Islands. Zika virus ...

BACKGROUND Rotavirus vaccine is recommended for all infants in Canada. To evaluate the logistics of implementing a universal rotavirus vaccination program, we compared the effectiveness of program implementation in jurisdictions with either a physician-administered or public health nurse-administered program. METHODS All infants born between October 1, 2010 and September 30, 2012 in Prince Ed...