Optimized for routine: highly sensitive fluorescent Telomeric Repeat Amplification Protocol (f-TRAP).

The strict suppression of telomerase activity (TA) in terminally differentiated human cells causes a shortening of the chromosome ends after each cell division. This tumor suppression surveillance mechanism is associated with a limited number of cell divisions known as Hayflick limit. Here we present an optimized protocol for measuring TA that combines a fluorescently labeled bait primer and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with analytical capillary electrophoresis (CE) to achieve a detection limit of one telomerase-positive cell per ten thousand negative cells.

A MYCN-driven de-differentiation profile identifies a subgroup of aggressive retinoblastoma.

Retinoblastoma are childhood eye tumors arising from retinal precursor cells. Two distinct retinoblastoma subtypes with different clinical behavior have been described based on gene expression and methylation profiling. Using consensus clustering of DNA methylation analysis from 61 retinoblastomas, we identify a MYCN-driven cluster of subtype 2 retinoblastomas characterized by DNA hypomethylation and high expression of genes involved in protein synthesis.

Generation of three iPSC lines with inducible systems to be used in Angelman syndrome research.

The neurodevelopmental disorder Angelman syndrome (AS) has an incidence of 1:15.000 live births and is caused by absence of UBE3A protein, showing imprinted gene expression in the brain. Imprinted genes are controlled by differentially methylated regions resulting in parent-of-origin dependent gene expression.

Molecular Characterization and Subtyping of Breast Cancer Cell Lines Provide Novel Insights into Cancer Relevant Genes.

Continuous cell lines are important and commonly used in vitro models in breast cancer (BC) research. Selection of the appropriate model cell line is crucial and requires consideration of their molecular characteristics. To characterize BC cell line models in depth, we profiled a panel of 29 authenticated and publicly available BC cell lines by mRNA-sequencing, mutation analysis, and immunoblotting.