This week’s Mass Spec News
A real breakthrough in epigenetics, MassKG for the development of new therapeutics and The Innovation Awards…
| 2 min read | News
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Essential Reading
Long-Term Lifestyle Changes Impact Children's Serum Metabolites
Researchers investigating the long-term effects of diet and physical activity on children's health have uncovered how lifestyle changes affect metabolic pathways. A study spanning eight years examined a range of serum metabolites in children, demonstrating that sustained lifestyle interventions can influence the body's metabolic profile, particularly in lipid metabolism.
The researchers employed non-targeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomics analysis to measure the effects of a combined diet and physical activity intervention on 315 serum metabolites in children.
“A Real Breakthrough in Epigenetics”
According to a new study, 5-formylcytosine (5fC), an epigenetic modification previously thought to be a passive byproduct of DNA demethylation, plays a pivotal role in regulating gene transcription during early embryonic development. Specifically, researchers have discovered that 5fC helps activate critical tRNA genes by facilitating RNA Polymerase III (Pol III) recruitment during zygotic genome activation (ZGA) in Xenopus and mouse embryos. Using advanced techniques, including liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (DIP-seq), and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq), the researchers tracked how 5fC marks specific regions of the genome involved in tRNA transcription. They observed that 5fC accumulates at Pol III target sites, such as tRNA genes, during ZGA, correlating with increased transcriptional activity.
The Analytical Scientist Presents:
Enjoying yourself? There's plenty more where that came from! Our weekly Mass Spec Newsletter brings you the most popular stories as they unfold, chosen by our fantastic Editorial team!
Worth Your Time...
Xiaowei Zhuang and colleagues analyze wastewater using LC-MS/MS to reveal that consumption of high-risk substances (HRSs), such as cocaine, has increased in southern Nevada over the year. Link
Researchers employ MS-based top-down proteomics (TDP) and capillary isoelectric focusing MS/MS to successfully measure intact proteoforms of protein coronas. Link
Thanks to MassKG – an algorithm combining a fragmentation strategy and a deep learning-based molecule generation model – scientists analyze and annotate various natural products, possibly for the development of new therapeutics. Link
The temperature at which a sample is stored and the time that it is stored for will not significantly change results when using sebum as a diagnostic biofluid, suggests study on LC-MS analysis. Link
Community Corner
The Innovation Awards 2024
Which new technologies, instrument advances or software solutions will shake up this year’s Analytical Scientist Innovation Awards? We’ll find out in December!
Don't worry: there’s still time to nominate your favorite innovation here – but act now; the deadline is October 18, 2024!
If you’re curious about last year’s winner and nominees, check out this article.
