Epigenetics

Epigenetic Antibody Overview

Rockland continues to innovate and drive thought leadership in antibody science, as well as the technology important to the future of the industry. Rockland offers an extensive antibody portfolio encompassing antibody probes specific to Epigenetics.



H3K4Me3 Antibody 600-401-I59	HDAC1 Antibody 600-401-879	Histone3 Antibody 100-401-E81

Multicomponent cellular machinery referred to as readers, writers and erasers, are responsible for altering gene expression patterns and determining the cellular phenotype without changing the genetic information encoded in the nucleotide sequence. The regulation is dynamic, reversible and establishes normal cellular phenotypes but also contribute to human disease. Termed "Epigenetics", this process can be described as a regulation from above, resulting in functionality relevant modifications to the genetic material without alteration of the primary DNA sequence. Epigenetic mechanisms are influenced by several factors including development in utero, childhood, aging, diet, as well as environmental chemicals, drugs used, and lifestyle. These modifications are inheritable, ensuring continued guidance of gene expression resulting in the many cellular differentiation processes that make up an organism.

Protein Modification

Post-translational modification of histones, including methylation, acetylation, phosphorylation and ubiquitination. Arginine or lysine amino acids within the protein sequence represent the targets at which methylation can occur. Varying degrees of reversible methylation are mediated by peptidylarginine or lysine methyltransferases, in which up to two or three methyl groups can be added to arginine or lysine residues respectively. Because methylation does not change the charged state of a lysine or arginine residue, it does not appear to directly effect chromatin structure. Instead, the various methyl marks act as binding sites for other proteins to chromatin sites marked by methylation. Methylated histones can be methylation.

Histone acetylation is regulated by two families of enzymes: histone acetyltransferases and HDACs. As a result of Lysine acetylation via HATs, chromatin adopts a more relaxed structure, enabling the recruitment of the transcriptional machinery. HDACs oppose the effects of HATs and reverse the acetylation of lysine residues to restore their positive charge and stabilize the local chromatin architecture.

Epi-Plus Histone

ChIP

Rockland offers an assortment of Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-specific antibodies enabling the study of protein-DNA interactions by immuno-precipitation. The existing antibody probes offer assistance in the identification of target locations within the genome that various histone modifications are associated

DNA Methylation

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification involving the addition of a methyl group from S-adenosyl-L-methionine to the fifth carbon position of cytosine, thus forming 5-methylcytosine. This reversible process predominantly occurs within the CG-rich regions, where cytosine nucleotides are directly followed by guanidine nucleotides and is mediated by enzymes referred to a DNA methyltransferases (readers and writers). The degree of DNA methylation is inversely proportional to the transcriptional activity of genes, where heavily methylated genes are less transcribed than non-methylated nucleotide regions of the genome; with promoter regions almost always displaying no methylation events at all - termed CpG islands.