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Cytosolic DNA composition is determined by genomic instability mechanism and regulates dendritic cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity.

Cell Rep

January 2025

Department of Oncology, Cross Cancer Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1Z2, Canada; Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada. Electronic address:

Patients with colorectal cancers (CRCs) that have microsatellite instability (MSI) (MSI CRCs) face a better prognosis than those with the more common chromosomal instability (CIN) subtype (CIN CRCs) due to improved T cell-mediated anti-tumor immune responses. Previous investigations identified the cytosolic DNA (cyDNA) sensor STING as necessary for chemokine-mediated T cell recruitment in MSI CRCs. Here, we find that cyDNA from MSI CRC cells is inherently more capable of inducing STING activation and improves cytotoxic T cell activation by dendritic cells (DCs).

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DNA damage triggers heritable alterations in DNA methylation patterns in Arabidopsis.

Mol Plant

January 2025

State Key Laboratory of Wheat Improvement, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; Beijing Life Science Academy, Beijing 102299, China. Electronic address:

It has been hypothesized that DNA damage has the potential to induce DNA hypermethylation, contributing to carcinogenesis in mammals. However, there is no sufficient evidence to support that DNA damage can cause genome-wide DNA hypermethylation. Here, we demonstrated that DNA single-strand breaks with 3'-blocked ends (DNA 3'-blocks) can not only reinforce DNA methylation at normally methylated loci but also can induce DNA methylation at normally nonmethylated loci in plants.

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Blood-based epigenome-wide association study and prediction of alcohol consumption.

Clin Epigenetics

January 2025

Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.

Alcohol consumption is an important risk factor for multiple diseases. It is typically assessed via self-report, which is open to measurement error through recall bias. Instead, molecular data such as blood-based DNA methylation (DNAm) could be used to derive a more objective measure of alcohol consumption by incorporating information from cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites known to be linked to the trait.

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Epigenetic variation in light of population genetic practice.

Nat Commun

January 2025

Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.

The evolutionary impact of epigenetic variation depends on its transgenerational stability and source - whether genetically determined, environmentally induced, or due to spontaneous, genotype-independent mutations. Here, we evaluate current approaches for investigating an independent role of epigenetics in evolution, pinpointing methodological challenges. We further identify opportunities arising from integrating epigenetic data with population genetic analyses in natural populations.

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Cell-free DNA release following psychosocial and physical stress in women and men.

Transl Psychiatry

January 2025

Department of Genetic Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, Bochum, Germany.

Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is continuously shed by all cells in the body, but the regulation of this process and its physiological functions are still largely unknown. Previous research has demonstrated that both nuclear (cf-nDNA) and mitochondrial (cf-mtDNA) cfDNA levels increase in plasma in response to acute psychosocial and physical stress in males. This study further investigated these findings by testing 31 female participants (16 using oral hormonal contraception and 15 not using oral hormonal contraception), and the results were subsequently compared with those of 16 male participants.

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