An increase in systemic inflammation (inflammaging) is one of the hallmarks of aging. Epigenetic (DNA methylation) clocks can quantify the degree of biological aging and this can be reversed by lifestyle and pharmacological intervention. We aimed to investigate whether a multi-component nutritional supplement could reduce systemic inflammation and epigenetic age in healthy older adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe expression of the pluripotency factors OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and MYC (OSKM) can convert somatic differentiated cells into pluripotent stem cells in a process known as reprogramming. Notably, partial and reversible reprogramming does not change cell identity but can reverse markers of aging in cells, improve the capacity of aged mice to repair tissue injuries, and extend longevity in progeroid mice. However, little is known about the mechanisms involved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile traditional microbiological freshwater tests focus on the detection of specific bacterial indicator species, including pathogens, direct tracing of all aquatic DNA through metagenomics poses a profound alternative. Yet, in situ metagenomic water surveys face substantial challenges in cost and logistics. Here, we present a simple, fast, cost-effective and remotely accessible freshwater diagnostics workflow centred around the portable nanopore sequencing technology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransmissible cancers are clonal lineages that spread through populations via contagious cancer cells. Although rare in nature, two facial tumor clones affect Tasmanian devils. Here we perform comparative genetic and functional characterization of these lineages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification in many species that is critical for development, and implicated in ageing and many complex diseases, such as cancer. Many cost-effective genome-wide analyses of DNA modifications rely on restriction enzymes capable of digesting genomic DNA at defined sequence motifs. There are hundreds of restriction enzyme families but few are used to date, because no tool is available for the systematic evaluation of restriction enzyme combinations that can enrich for certain sites of interest in a genome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHere we provide the first genome-wide in vivo analysis of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger family in the model system Caenorhabditis elegans. We source all members of this family within the Caenorhabditis genus and reconstruct their phylogeny across humans and Drosophila melanogaster. Next, we provide a description of the expression pattern for each exchanger gene in C.
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