pre-mRNAs Archives | Page 2 of 2

GC-rich neo-Darwinian train wreck

August 14, 2016

Targeted Epigenetic Remodeling of Endogenous Loci by CRISPR/Cas9-Based Transcriptional Activators Directly Converts Fibroblasts to Neuronal Cells Excerpt: In this study, we demonstrate direct cellular reprogramming to induced neuronal cells through targeted activation of endogenous genes. Excerpt: Moreover, a recent study demonstrated that reprogramming efficiency can be limited by divergence to a competing cell identity (Treutlein et al., 2016). The molecular mechanisms and practical consequences of these limitations are largely unknown. My comment: They demonstrate what naturally must occur to link…

Energy-dependent RNA methylation (6)

June 7, 2016

James Kohl

Adaptations, biophotonics, Diseases & Disorders, Ecology, Human Pheromones, Model Organisms, Neuronal Plasticity, Nutrigenomics, Physics, RNA Directed, RNA methylation, RNA-directed DNA methylation, RNA-mediated epigenetic regulation of gene expression, RNA-mediated gene silencing, RNA-mediated toxicity, RNA–Mediated Epigenetic Heredity, Variations

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After I published Nutrient-dependent/pheromone-controlled adaptive evolution: a model, Lynnette Ferguson and Justin O’Sullivan invited me to submit this review of nutritional epigenetics for inclusion in a special issue of the journal “Nutrients.” Nutrient-dependent pheromone-controlled ecological adaptations: from atoms to ecosystems (April 10, 2014) Abstract: This atoms to ecosystems model of ecological adaptations links nutrient-dependent epigenetic effects on base pairs and amino acid substitutions to pheromone-controlled changes in the microRNA / messenger RNA balance and chromosomal rearrangements. The nutrient-dependent pheromone-controlled changes…

RNA-mediated DNA modifications

March 1, 2016

James Kohl

Adaptations, Ecology, RNA Directed

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A new way to discover DNA modifications Excerpt: Using their approach, which combines bioanalytical chemistry, comparative genomics, and a special type of DNA sequencing, the team has discovered a DNA modification that helps bacteria to protect their genomes from viral infection. My comment: There is one way to link nutrient-dependent microRNA flanking sequences from adhesion proteins to supercoiled DNA, which protects the organized genomes of all living genera from virus-driven entropy. It starts with energy-dependent changes in hydrogen-atom transfer in…

A two-faced protein enables RNA-mediated DNA repair (2)

December 8, 2015

James Kohl

Adaptations, Alternative Splicings, Diseases & Disorders, Ecology, Model Organisms, Neuronal Plasticity, Nutrigenomics, Pharmacogenomics, Physics, RNA Directed, RNA-mediated epigenetic regulation of gene expression, RNA-mediated gene silencing, RNA-mediated toxicity, RNA–Mediated Epigenetic Heredity, Variations, What's in the News

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A two-faced protein enables RNA-mediated DNA repair See also: Abundant contribution of short tandem repeats to gene expression variation in humans (subscription required) Excerpt: …suggesting that STRs have a key role in the evolution of expression. Indeed, several candidate gene studies in humans reported that STR variations modulate gene expression19,33–37 and alternative splicing… Reported as: Researchers find repetitive DNA provides a hidden layer of functional information Excerpt: He is calling these variants eSTRs, or expression STRs, to note that they…

MicroRNAs and the exposome

May 5, 2015

James Kohl

Adaptations, Ecology, Human Pheromones, Model Organisms, Neuronal Plasticity, RNA Directed, Variations

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MicroRNAs as Potential Signatures of Environmental Exposure or Effect: A Systematic Review Excerpt: Researchers are currently publishing extensive lists of miRNAs that are responsive to environmental exposures and showing their utility as biomarkers of effect. Future research should focus on identifying the molecular mechanism behind miRNA expression changes in response to exposure to determine whether the changes in miRNA expression are merely a symptom of the (patho)physiological processes the organism undergoes after exposure, or whether miRNAs are the drivers responsible…

Nutrient-dependent microRNAs control cell types

April 6, 2015

James Kohl

Ecology, Light Energy, Model Organisms, Physics, RNA Directed

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Nutrient-dependent/pheromone-controlled adaptive evolution: a model. Excerpt: “…the epigenetic ‘tweaking’ of the immense gene networks that occurs via exposure to nutrient chemicals and pheromones can now be modeled in the context of the microRNA/messenger RNA balance, receptor-mediated intracellular signaling, and the stochastic gene expression required for nutrient-dependent pheromone-controlled adaptive evolution. The role of the microRNA/messenger RNA balance (Breen, Kemena, Vlasov, Notredame, & Kondrashov, 2012; Duvarci, Nader, & LeDoux, 2008; Griggs et al., 2013; Monahan & Lomvardas, 2012) in adaptive evolution will…

Intelligent viruses and cancers?

November 3, 2014

James Kohl

Adaptations, Alternative Splicings, Diseases & Disorders, Ecology, Human Brain, Model Organisms, Neuronal Plasticity, RNA Directed, Variations

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The Very Intelligent Ebola Virus Takes Front and Center Excerpt 1) “Ebola doesn’t enter the nucleus. It uses the cell’s machinery of ribosomes and transfer RNA to make proteins from the viral messengerRNA.” Excerpt 2) “Normally, mechanisms inside the nucleus have complex relations with messenger RNA and the alternative RNA editing process (see RNA alternative editing post). Specific protein complexes help splice the messengerRNA before it is sent from the nucleus to the ribosomes in the cytoplasm to make proteins.”…