Hey Guys!
I don't know how many of you are interested in Colon Cancer or doing active research on this type of cancer, but I found an interesting article that details a novel way in which this deadly cancer develops. The research that that the scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine carried out, found that the "junk DNA" actually act as a set of master switches that enable or disable transcription in the DNA. In the study, these master switches are called Variant Enhancer Loci or VELs since these loci have the ability to "enhance" the DNA by transcribing it or not, depending on whether it is turned on or off. Similar to the methylation process that enables or disables transcription in a particular area of DNA, the researchers found that colon cancer actually has an unique genetic signature whereby certain regions of the DNA are deliberately changed. The key to this discovery is that these changes are reversible since these are epigenetic changes, again similar to methylation. As Sanford Markowitz, a member of the research team notes "The VELs signature is notable because it cuts through the complexity of the many genes that are changed in colon cancer, to identify genes that are direct targets of alterations on chromosomes."
Anyway guys, take a looks at study if you are interested - it is nicely summarized at the following link.
Also below, you will find a citation for the actual journal article that goes into more detail about the research study.
Article Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120412141813.htm
Research/Paper citation:
Batool Akhtar-Zaidi, Richard Cowper-Sal·lari, Olivia Corradin, Alina Saiakhova, Cynthia F. Bartels, Dheepa Balasubramanian, Lois Myeroff, James Lutterbaugh, Awad Jarrar, Matthew F. Kalady, Joseph Willis, Jason H. Moore, Paul J. Tesar, Thomas Laframboise, Sanford Markowitz, Mathieu Lupien, Peter C. Scacheri. Epigenomic enhancer profiling defines a signature of colon cancer. Science, April 12, 2012.
I don't know how many of you are interested in Colon Cancer or doing active research on this type of cancer, but I found an interesting article that details a novel way in which this deadly cancer develops. The research that that the scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine carried out, found that the "junk DNA" actually act as a set of master switches that enable or disable transcription in the DNA. In the study, these master switches are called Variant Enhancer Loci or VELs since these loci have the ability to "enhance" the DNA by transcribing it or not, depending on whether it is turned on or off. Similar to the methylation process that enables or disables transcription in a particular area of DNA, the researchers found that colon cancer actually has an unique genetic signature whereby certain regions of the DNA are deliberately changed. The key to this discovery is that these changes are reversible since these are epigenetic changes, again similar to methylation. As Sanford Markowitz, a member of the research team notes "The VELs signature is notable because it cuts through the complexity of the many genes that are changed in colon cancer, to identify genes that are direct targets of alterations on chromosomes."
Anyway guys, take a looks at study if you are interested - it is nicely summarized at the following link.
Also below, you will find a citation for the actual journal article that goes into more detail about the research study.
Article Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120412141813.htm
Research/Paper citation:
Batool Akhtar-Zaidi, Richard Cowper-Sal·lari, Olivia Corradin, Alina Saiakhova, Cynthia F. Bartels, Dheepa Balasubramanian, Lois Myeroff, James Lutterbaugh, Awad Jarrar, Matthew F. Kalady, Joseph Willis, Jason H. Moore, Paul J. Tesar, Thomas Laframboise, Sanford Markowitz, Mathieu Lupien, Peter C. Scacheri. Epigenomic enhancer profiling defines a signature of colon cancer. Science, April 12, 2012.
