Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 29, 2026
14:47
Identification of MyoD Interactome Using Tandem Affinity Purification Coupled to Mass Spectrometry
Published on: May 17, 2016
10.3K
Epigenetics of Genes Displaying High and Preferential Expression in Myoblasts
Kenneth C Ehrlich1, Michelle Lacey2, Sriharsa Pradhan3
1Center for Bioinformatics and Genomics, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA.
Epigenomes
|March 27, 2026
Summary
This study reveals that DNA methylation, beyond controlling gene activity, also fine-tunes gene expression in human myoblasts. We found both hypomethylation and hypermethylation play roles in regulating gene transcription during muscle cell differentiation.
Area of Science:
- Epigenetics
- Molecular Biology
- Genomics
Background:
- Differential DNA methylation studies typically focus on gene activation or repression.
- This research explores atypical epigenetic relationships in 92 genes highly expressed in primary human myoblasts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate novel roles of DNA methylation in regulating gene transcription in human myoblasts.
- To identify atypical epigenetic/transcription relationships for myoblast-preferential genes.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of methylomes, chromatin profiles, and transcriptomes across various cell populations.
- Identification of myoblast-specific differentially methylated regions (DMRs).
Main Results:
- Myoblast-preferential genes exhibited prevalent promoter hypomethylation, sometimes extending constitutive unmethylated regions.
- 32 genes showed myoblast-specific hypomethylation at super-enhancers or H3K4-trimethylated promoters.
- Nearly half of these genes were associated with myoblast hypermethylated DMRs, often intragenic and within H3K36-trimethylated chromatin.
Conclusions:
- Myoblast hypermethylated DMRs may repress alternative promoters or downregulate expression to prevent excessively high RNA levels.
- Epigenetic insights aid in understanding transcription regulation of genes linked to muscle disorders and cancer.
- DNA hypo- and hypermethylation act as crucial modulators of transcription levels, beyond a simple on-off switch, during cell differentiation.
Keywords:
alternative promotersasymmetry enhancer (ASE)broad H3K4me3 domainscryptic promotersenhancersenzymatic methyl-seq (EM-seq)myoblastsskeletal musclesuper-enhancerswhole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS)More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:13Formation of Muscle Fibers from Myoblasts
7.0K
De novo myogenesis, or the formation of muscle fibers, begins during the early embryonic stages. The skeletal muscle is formed from somites– blocks of embryonic cell layers. The somites are further divided into dermatomes, myotomes, sclerotomes, and syndetomes. Among these, the myotomes give rise to muscle fibers.
Muscle progenitor cells (MPCs) are formed from the myotomes. MPCs express genes that encode the transcription factors Pax3 and Pax7. Along with Pax 3/7, other transcription...
Muscle progenitor cells (MPCs) are formed from the myotomes. MPCs express genes that encode the transcription factors Pax3 and Pax7. Along with Pax 3/7, other transcription...
7.0K
02:23Master Transcription Regulators
8.0K
Master transcription regulators are regulatory proteins that are predominantly responsible for regulating the expression of multiple genes. Often these genes work in concert to drive a complex process. Activation of a master transcription regulator can lead to a cascade of transcriptional activation necessary for that outcome. These regulators can directly bind to the regulatory sequences of the various genes involved, or they can indirectly regulate transcription by binding to regulatory...
8.0K
01:58Cell Specific Gene Expression
16.9K
Multicellular organisms contain a variety of structurally and functionally distinct cell types, but the DNA in all the cells originated from the same parent cells. The differences in the cells can be attributed to the differential gene expression. Liver cells, whose functions include detoxification of blood, production of bile to metabolize fats, and synthesis of proteins essential for metabolism, must express a specific set of genes to perform their functions. Gene expression also varies with...
16.9K
01:58Cell Specific Gene Expression
5.8K
5.8K
02:30Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance
38.7K
Diploid organisms inherit genetic material through chromosomes from both parents. Copies of the same gene are known as alleles. In most cases, both alleles are simultaneously expressed and allow various cellular processes to function optimally. If one of the alleles is missing or mutated, the expression of the other allele can compensate; however, this is not true for all genes.
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...
38.7K
01:29Somatic to iPS Cell Reprogramming
2.8K
Reprogramming alters the gene expression in somatic cells, transforming them into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells over several generations. Scientists can reprogram cells by introducing genes for four transcription factors—Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM) by viral or non-viral methods. These factors are also known as Yamanaka factors after Shinya Yamanaka, who first generated iPS cells using mouse skin cells. Yamanaka was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012...
2.8K