BACKGROUND Three principal genes are involved in developmental programmed cell death (PCD) in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. The ced-3 and ced-4 genes are both required for each PCD, whereas ced-9 acts to prevent the death-promoting actions of these genes in cells that are destined to survive. Vertebrate homologues of both ced-3 and ced-9 have been identified as the genes encoding th...

This study reports on probing the utility of in situ chromatin texture features such as nuclear DNA methylation and chromatin condensation patterns - visualized by fluorescent staining and evaluated by dedicated three-dimensional (3D) quantitative and high-throughput cell-by-cell image analysis - in assessing the proliferative capacity, i.e. growth behavior of cells: to provide a more dynamic p...

We consider the formation of droplets from a 2-component liquid mixture induced by large polymer chain that has preferential attraction to one components. assume is in fully miscible state, but far above critical interaction limit two species. show coil acts as chemical potential trap, which can shift inside volume into partially state and thus triggers polymer-bound droplet preferred solvent p...

The accessibility of chromatin is an essential feature of DNA templated processes such as DNA replication, transcription and DNA repair. The chromatin condensation state, and thus accessibility, is modulated by a variety of chromatin remodeling complexes [1] as well as epigenetic components; for instance by bridging gene regulatory elements [2]. More recently, the function of ncRNAs in regulati...

BACKGROUND An embryo's ability to grow and implant can be improved by selection of a normal spermatozoon with a vacuole-free head. However, large vacuoles in spermatozoa have yet to be fully characterized. The present study aimed to determine whether these vacuoles are of nuclear, membrane and/or acrosomal origin. METHODS We studied 15 infertile patients with differing sperm profiles. For eac...

Insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf 2) and H19 genes are oppositely imprinted and as such have been most extensively studied imprinted genes both genetically and at the molecular level. Imprints of the H19 gene, being established during spermatogenesis, are epigenetically transmitted to the somatic cells of the embryo. Current hypotheses attempting to explain the allele-specific silence of the H1...