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科学家近日在《自然-方法学》上撰文称,他们找到一种用于研究基因组调控的高质量可再生抗体的制备方法。该方法可用于解决“抗体瓶颈”问题--目前用于检测基因表达调控蛋白的抗体都不可再生且无法特异识别目标。能够调控基因表达的不仅仅是组成DNA的四种碱基,与DNA有关的蛋白特别是组蛋白也能调控。这些组蛋白的化学修饰比如在一种特定氨基酸中增加甲基团等,可以影响DNA中编码的基因是否得到表达。研究人员非常依赖于抗体来识别这些组蛋白受到的特定修饰以了解其对基因组调控的影响。
In a recent article in Nature - Methodology, scientists said they have found a way to make high-quality, reproducible antibodies for genomic regulation. This method can be used to solve the “antibody bottleneck” problem - none of the antibodies currently used to detect gene expression regulatory proteins are non-regenerative and do not specifically recognize the target. Not only the four bases that make up the DNA, but also the DNA-related proteins, especially histones, regulate genes. Chemical modifications of these histones, such as the addition of methyl groups to a particular amino acid, can affect whether genes encoded in the DNA are expressed. Researchers rely heavily on antibodies to recognize the specific modifications these histones are subjected to to understand their effects on genome regulation.