Epigenetics News and Research

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Epigenetics is the study of chemical reactions that influence gene expression, through activation or deactivation of genes at specific times and locations.

Researchers identify new epigenetic markers for colorectal cancer

Researchers at Nanjing University, China, found new epigenetic markers for colorectal cancer which may offer a new approach for treatment.

14 Sep 2015

Mirati to present data on tyrosine kinase inhibitor at ESMO 2015 European Cancer Congress

Mirati Therapeutics, Inc., an oncology company focusing on genetic and epigenetic drivers of cancer, today announced it will present data on its tyrosine kinase inhibitor, MGCD516, at the ESMO 2015 European Cancer Congress being held in Vienna, Austria from September 25-29, 2015.

11 Sep 2015

Penn Medicine researchers show that DNA editing errors can lead to cancer

Sometimes when the immune system makes small mistakes, the body amplifies its response in a big way: Editing errors in the DNA of developing T and B cells can cause blood cancers. Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania have shown that when the enzyme key to cutting and pasting segments of DNA hits so-called "off-target" spots on a chromosome, the development of immune cells can lead to cancer in animal models.

11 Sep 2015

VolitionRx receives new U.S. patent for Nucleosomics platform

VolitionRx Limited, a life sciences company focused on developing blood tests for a broad range of cancer types and other conditions, today announced the grant of US Patent Number 9,128,086 entitled "Detection of Histone Modification in Cell-Free Nucleosomes". This patent is already issued in Europe to the Company under the number EP1668368B1.

10 Sep 2015

Researchers use nanopore technology for early detection of colorectal and lung cancers

Using tiny "nanopore" scanners that can detect individual DNA molecules, Professor Amit Meller and colleagues are on the hunt for biological markers in cancer cells that may help clinicians diagnose colorectal and lung cancers at their earliest stages.

10 Sep 2015

Using whole genomes data to improve bowel cancer diagnosis: an interview with Professor Ian Tomlinson

The project aims to sequence the specified 100,000 genomes from two types of patients: first, those who may have rare inherited diseases caused by unknown or unidentified genes; and second, people with one of several types of cancer, including colorectal cancer.

9 Sep 2015

Prenatal exposure to historical Ukraine Famine increases risk for Type 2 diabetes

Men and women exposed in early gestation to the man-made Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 in regions with extreme food shortages were 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in adulthood.

4 Sep 2015

Mel18 protein regulates development of heart muscle

It is arguably the hardest working muscle in our body and without its incessant, regular beating our organs would be starved of life-giving nutrients.

4 Sep 2015

HUYA Bioscience International expands HBI-8000 clinical trials for breast cancer

HUYA Bioscience International (HUYA) today announced expanding clinical trials with its lead cancer drug, HBI-8000, starting with a Phase 1 combination trial in support of a breast cancer program to be conducted in the United States.

3 Sep 2015

Study reveals new epigenetic mechanism underlying progression of cancer tumors

Aggressive cancer growth and alterations in gene activity without changes in DNA sequence (epigenetics) are associated with mutant p53 proteins, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

3 Sep 2015

USF, FARA to jointly host scientific symposium on Friedreich's ataxia

The University of South Florida will again bring together leading researchers and patients searching for a treatment for Friedreich's ataxia and related disorders at the seventh annual scientific symposium "Understanding Energy for A Cure." The symposium will be held 5 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 17, at the USF Marshall Student Center Ballroom, USF Cedar Circle, Tampa, FL 33620.

2 Sep 2015

Altering protein recycling complexes in human cells may help overcome chemotherapy resistance

Altering the protein recycling complexes in human cells, including cancer cells, allows the cells to resist treatment with a class of drugs known as proteasome inhibitors, according to Whitehead Institute scientists.

2 Sep 2015

Resverlogix presents new data on RVX-208 orally active BET inhibitor at ESC Congress 2015

Resverlogix Corp. is pleased to announce that Dr. Norman Wong, chief scientific officer of Resverlogix Corp. presented new data at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2015 in a poster presentation titled: "RVX-208, an orally active BET inhibitor, lowers CVD risk by activities beyond raising ApoA-I/HDL."

31 Aug 2015

Researchers identify druggable target to potentially root out colon cancer, end relapse

Researchers targeting colorectal cancer stem cells - the root cause of disease, resistance to treatment and relapse - have discovered a mechanism to mimic a virus and potentially trigger an immune response to fight the cancer like an infection.

28 Aug 2015

Researchers find way to trigger 'virus alert' that may help boost drug's ability to prevent cancer cells

Working with human cancer cell lines and mice, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and elsewhere have found a way to trigger a type of immune system "virus alert" that may one day boost cancer patients' response to immunotherapy drugs. An increasingly promising focus of cancer research, the drugs are designed to disarm cancer cells' ability to avoid detection and destruction by the immune system.

27 Aug 2015

Theresa Alenghat receives 2015 AGA-CCFA-Janssen Research Award in IBD Epigenetics Research

The American Gastroenterological Association, in partnership with the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America and Janssen Biotech, Inc., announced today that Theresa Alenghat, VMD, PhD, from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, OH, was awarded with the 2015 AGA-CCFA-Janssen Research Award in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Epigenetics Research.

27 Aug 2015

FDA, EMA accept filing applications for Boehringer Ingelheim's afatinib to treat patients with advanced SCC of the lung

Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency have accepted filing applications for afatinib for the treatment of patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung progressing after treatment with first-line chemotherapy.

26 Aug 2015

BET inhibitors can cause molecular changes in neurons, lead to memory loss in mice

Cancer researchers are constantly in search of more-effective and less-toxic approaches to stopping the disease, and have recently launched clinical trials testing a new class of drugs called BET inhibitors. These therapies act on a group of proteins that help regulate the expression of many genes, some of which play a role in cancer.

25 Aug 2015

Understanding the causes of sudden death in epilepsy: an interview with Professor Sanjay Sisodiya

SUDEP is the sudden unexpected witnessed or unwitnessed, non-traumatic and non-drowning death in people with epilepsy, with or without evidence of a seizure. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in the known context of a seizure, excluding documented status epilepticus, where people have seizure after seizure.

24 Aug 2015

Variation in genetic mechanism increases fat storage and drives obesity

A specific gene region has long been suspected of contributing to obesity in humans but the precise mechanisms behind this were previously unclear. Now, researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard Medical School and other partners have been able to show that a single genetic alteration in this region reduces thermogenesis (fat burning), instead increasing lipid storage.