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Click on any image below to find out more about the innovator and their contributions/research towards the promising field of epigenetics!

Founded in 2005, Epigentrek specializes in epigenetic kits, antibodies, reagents, and services for epigenetic research in DNA methylation, histone modification, and chromatin studies. 

Epigentek's objectives:

  • ​Assist researchers in solving challenges in epigenetic issues.

  • Develop and introduce simplification and accuracy to epigenetic experiments.

  • Ensure customer satisfaction through superior reliability, speed, service, and quality.

  • Encourage and facilitate the study of epigenetics for potential medical applications.

  • Pioneer and innovate epigenetic products through routine analysis of technological trends (​18)

(1) Introducing the trigger dsRNA
A “trigger“ dsRNA is introduced into the cell’s cytoplasm. (26)​

(2) Generating siRNA pool
The Dicer enzyme (and associated co-factors) processes the trigger dsRNA, forming a pool of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs): these are approx. 21 base pairs in length, including 2 nucleotide overhangs at both 3’ ends. (26)

(3) Capturing and unwinding siRNA by RISC
The processed siRNAs are then delivered to an Argonaut-containing RNA-Induced Silencing Complex (RISC), which unwinds the two siRNA strands, retaining one strand to act as a RISC-targeting co-factor. (26)​

(4) Binding siRNA-associated RISC to target mRNA
The siRNA’s bound strand confers sequence-based specificity to its associated RISC complex, allowing recognition and base-pairing with the complementary target mRNA. (26)​

(5) Destruction of the target mRNA
The RISC complex contains an endonuclease activity, now ascribed to the Argonaut subunit, which causes a single-site cleavage of the target mRNA approximately in the middle of the siRNA binding region. The resulting fragments of target mRNA are thereby destabilized and subsequently get fully degraded through natural endogenous mechanisms. (26)​

For more information on the MCGD 290 molecules and its clinical status click here​

For more information on the MGCD265 molecules and its clinical status click here​

A biopharmaceutical company that focuses on drugs for the treatment of cancer and infectious disease, MethylGene produces products that inhibit enzyme function. Its current focus is on two molecules, MGCD265 for cancer and MGCD290 for fungal infections; both of which are currently in human clinical trials. (23)​

  • Optimized HT-RNAi and Compound Screening in Wide Range of Cell Models
  • High Content Screening

Techonology Used by Cenix to Silence Genes Through the RNAi Method

Cenix BioScience was found as the first biotechnology company to focus specifically on accelerating and broadening the application of RNAi gene silencing. Cenix uses the RNA-mediated interference method to silence desired genes. Double stranded RNA molecules are inserted into the organism, then the RNA-mediated interference pathway can be experimentally harnessed to silence the desired gene with tightly controlled specificity. ​Cenix has also successfully developed major research product lines to drive the evolution of the RNAi field. These have included designing one of the first human genome-wide libraries of siRNAs. (22)​

Cenix's Explanation of How RNAi Works

The Human Epigenome Project was put together by the U.S Health Department of Energy and National Institutes of Health. It was a 13 year plan conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. The Welcome Trust Fund became a partner of The Human Epigenome Project, and contributions from all over the world contributed, including France, Germany and China.​

 

Biopharm has launched an epigenetic-based therapeutic attack on cancer which includes multiple science teams working to define new epitherapeutics for a range of different cancers.
Although there is much interest in other diseases that may have an epigenetic basis, cancer-based investigation is far advanced over other diseases, so for the next few years this is BioPharm's prime focus of epi-drug development. (21)​

Progress report of SU2C's Epigenetic Dream Team and what they've been doing and hope to further accomplish in the future

On May 28, 2009, one year from its launch, Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) announced its first round of three-year "Dream Team" grants to five multi-institutional, cross-disciplinary research teams, totaling $73.6 million. SU2C’s distinctive approach to funding cancer research was specifically designed to eliminate barriers to creativity and collaboration, in part, by enabling scientists with different expertise from different institutions across the country – and in some cases, internationally – to work together. Each Dream Team’s project is “translational” in nature, geared toward moving science from “bench to bedside” where it can benefit patients as quickly as possible. Collectively, the research being done through the Dream Team projects could impact the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of cancers in adults and children across ethnicities including, but not limited to pancreatic, breast, ovarian, cervical, uterine, brain, lung, prostate, melanoma and leukemia, which represent two thirds of all U.S. cancer deaths. (6)​

 

​One Of The Dream Teams:
Bringing Epigentic Therapy to the Foreront of Cancer Management
Epigenetic therapy is one of the most promising new areas of cancer research; this Dream Team hopes to finally bring it into clinical practice. Focusing on an array of cancers, the team will examine an epigenetic process known as DNA de-methylation, which inactivates or "silences" cancer stem cells. Then they will develop a clinical trial to test the effects of a new drug that could effectively inhibit the epigenetic changes that lead to cancer.
"Your DNA is like a hard drive," Jones said. "You've got all the information in it to read out and do everything you can do with it, but without packaging and without sufficient software you can't instruct that DNA when to do X and when to do Y and Z. Cancers mutate the DNA and can thus corrupt the hard drive; but the package can also go wrong. Fortunately, the packaging is more reversible than trying to do something about an actual mutation. We can do things to bring that cell back into normal balance." (9)​

For more videos, check out SU2C's Epigenetic Dream Team's Youtube page  clicking here​

SU2C'S Epigenetic Dream Team's progress as of late 2011 and how their standing up to lung cancer with the knowledge they've accumulated since their Phase I clinical trials

Project Goals Were To:

  • Identify all the approximately 20,000-25,00 genes in human DNA

  • Determine the sequences of 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA

  • Store this information in databases

  • Improve tools for data analysis

  • Transfer related technologies to the private sector

  • Address ethical, legal, and social issues that come from the project (19)​

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