Analysis of bisulfite sequencing data usually requires two tasks: to call methylated cytosines (mCs) in a sample, and to detect differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between paired samples. Although numerous tools have been proposed for mC calling, methods for DMR detection have been largely limited. Here, we present Bisulfighter, a new software package for detecting mCs and DMRs from bisulf...

Differential marking of genes in female and male gametes by DNA methylation is essential to genomic imprinting. In female gametes transcription traversing differentially methylated regions (DMRs) is a common requirement for de novo methylation at DMRs. At the imprinted Gnas cluster oocyte specific transcription of a protein-coding transcript, Nesp, is needed for methylation of two DMRs intragen...

Epigenetic regulation of imprinted genes is regarded as a highly plausible explanation for linking dietary exposures in early life with the onset of diseases during childhood and adulthood. We sought to test whether prenatal dietary supplementation with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) during pregnancy may modulate epigenetic states at birth. This study was based on a randomized intervention trial co...

Rapid and accurate measurements of protein biomarkers, pathogens and cells in biological samples could provide useful information for early disease diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and design of personalized medicine. In general, biological samples have only negligible magnetic susceptibility. Thus, using magnetic nanoparticles for biosensing not only enhances sensitivity but also effectively r...

Second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (2G-TKIs) dasatinib and nilotinib produced historical rates of about 50% complete cytogenetic response (CCyR) and about 40% major molecular response (MMR) in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients failing imatinib. Direct comparisons between dasatinib and nilotinib are lacking, and few studies addressed the dynamics of deep molecular response (DMR)...

Imprinted genes have prominent effects on placentation; however, there is limited knowledge about the manner in which the genes controlled by two paternally methylated regions on chromosomes 7 and 12 contribute to placentation. In order to clarify the functions of these genes in mouse placentation, we examined transcription levels of the paternally methylated genes, tissue differentiation and d...

The energetic cost of diving in marine mammals is a difficult value to derive given the problems of assessing metabolic rate for an animal at sea. Nevertheless, it is fundamental to our understanding of the foraging strategies of air-breathers exploiting underwater food sources. We measured the metabolic rates of eight captive grey seals, voluntarily diving in a quasi-natural setting. Oxygen co...

The speed and resolution at which we can scour the genome for DNA methylation changes has improved immeasurably in the last 10years and the advent of the Illumina 450K BeadChip has made epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) a reality. The resulting datasets are conveniently formatted to allow easy alignment of significant hits to genes and genetic features, however; methods that parse signi...

Development of new opioid drugs that provide analgesia without producing dependence is important for pain treatment. Opioid agonist drugs exert their analgesia effects primarily by acting at the mu opioid receptor (MOR) sites. High-resolution differentiation of opioid ligands is crucial for the development of new lead drug candidates with better tolerance profiles. Here, we use a label-free int...

(NASA/GSFC) is responsible for the design, development, and operation of the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). Scientific guidance is provided by the COBE Science Working Group. GSFC is also responsible for the development of the analysis software and for the production of the mission data sets. ABSTRACT We limit the possible contributions from non-cosmological sources to the COBE-DMR four-yea...