Dysregulated epigenetic programs that restrict differentiation, reactivate fetal genes, and confer phenotypic plasticity are critical to colorectal cancer (CRC) development. By screening a small molecule library targeting epigenetic regulators using our dual reporter system, we found that inhibiting histone deacetylase (HDAC) 1/2 promotes CRC differentiation and anti-tumor activity. Comprehensive biochemical, chemical, and genetic experiments revealed that on-target blockade of the HDAC1/2 catalytic domain mediated the differentiated phenotype.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are a genetically heterogeneous group of rare dominantly inherited neurodegenerative diseases characterized by progressive ataxia. The most common mutation seen across the SCAs is a CAG repeat expansion, causative for SCA1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 12 and 17. We recently identified dysregulation of alternative splicing as a novel, presymptomatic transcriptomic hallmark in mouse models of SCAs 1, 3 and 7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To develop a 3D distortion-free reduced-FOV diffusion-prepared gradient-echo sequence and demonstrate its application in vivo for diffusion imaging of the spinal cord in healthy volunteers.
Methods: A 3D multi-shot reduced-FOV diffusion-prepared gradient-echo acquisition is achieved using a slice-selective tip-down pulse in the phase-encoding direction in the diffusion preparation, combined with magnitude stabilizers, centric k-space encoding, and 2D phase navigators to correct for intershot phase errors. The accuracy of the ADC values obtained using the proposed approach was evaluated in a diffusion phantom and compared to the tabulated reference ADC values and to the ADC values obtained using a standard spin echo diffusion-weighted single-shot EPI sequence (DW-SS-EPI).