Publications by authors named "Zane Koch"

DNA methylation marks have recently been used to build models known as epigenetic clocks, which predict calendar age. As methylation of cytosine promotes C-to-T mutations, we hypothesized that the methylation changes observed with age should reflect the accrual of somatic mutations, and the two should yield analogous aging estimates. In an analysis of multimodal data from 9,331 human individuals, we found that CpG mutations indeed coincide with changes in methylation, not only at the mutated site but with pervasive remodeling of the methylome out to ±10 kilobases.

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Article Synopsis
  • The brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l., is a significant carrier of Rickettsia rickettsii, which causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever, prompting public health measures to control tick infestations around homes and on pets.
  • Current control strategies primarily rely on acaricides, particularly synthetic pyrethroids, but many ticks have developed resistance to these chemicals, complicating prevention efforts.
  • Researchers used advanced sequencing techniques to study genetic variations associated with acaricide resistance in different lineages of the tick, finding a specific genetic mutation tied to resistance that was commonly found in tropical lineage ticks across various locations in the US.
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DNA methylation marks have recently been used to build models known as "epigenetic clocks" which predict calendar age. As methylation of cytosine promotes C-to-T mutations, we hypothesized that the methylation changes observed with age should reflect the accrual of somatic mutations, and the two should yield analogous aging estimates. In analysis of multimodal data from 9,331 human individuals, we find that CpG mutations indeed coincide with changes in methylation, not only at the mutated site but also with pervasive remodeling of the methylome out to ±10 kilobases.

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Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate age, sex, body weight, breed, neuter status, and age at neutering as risk factors for diagnosis of osteoarthritis in companion dogs.

Animals: Dogs seen as patients at Banfield Pet Hospital in the United States from 1998 to 2019 with a date of death in 2019. The final cohort consisted of 131,140 dogs.

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Motivation: Genome-wide maps of epigenetic modifications are powerful resources for non-coding genome annotation. Maps of multiple epigenetics marks have been integrated into cell or tissue type-specific chromatin state annotations for many cell or tissue types. With the increasing availability of multiple chromatin state maps for biologically similar samples, there is a need for methods that can effectively summarize the information about chromatin state annotations within groups of samples and identify differences across groups of samples at a high resolution.

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Numerous studies have shown that epigenetic age-an individual's degree of aging based on patterns of DNA methylation-can be computed and is associated with an array of factors including diet, lifestyle, genetics, and disease. One can expect that still further associations will emerge with additional aging research, but to what end? Prediction of age was an important first step, but-in our view-the focus must shift from chasing increasingly accurate age computations to understanding the links between the epigenome and the mechanisms and physiological changes of aging. Here, we outline emerging areas of epigenetic aging research that prioritize biological understanding and clinical application.

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Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurodevelopment disorder in children, and many genetic markers have been linked to the behavioral phenotypes of this highly heritable disease. The neuroimaging correlates are similarly complex, with multiple combinations of structural and functional alterations associated with the disease presentations of hyperactivity and inattentiveness. Thus far, neuroimaging studies have provided mixed results in ADHD patients, particularly with respect to the laterality of findings.

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