In 1942 Conrad Waddington coined the term epigenetics for "the branch of biology which studies the causal interactions between genes and their products which bring the phenotype into being" (1). Today many researchers would define it as inherited changes in phenotype without DNA sequence change.

Epigenetic information is mainly relayed through histon acetylation or DNA methylation.

For a better understanding of the epigenetic phenomena researchers use a wide range of molecular biology techniques, e.g. immunoprecipitation, in-situ hybridization or bisulfite sequencing. caprotec´s Capture Compound Mass Spectrometry (CCMS) technology provides an additional proteomic approach based on tri-functional small compounds for the specific enrichment of certain protein families.

Currently available caproKits™ allow the isolation of:

 

               • SAH/SAM-binding proteins (e.g. methyltransferases)

               • SAHA-binding proteins (e.g. histone deacetylases)

 

Please feel free to contact us for any additional questions related to using caprotec products in epigenetic research!

1) C.H. Waddington (1942) (1977) The epigenotype; Endeavour 1; 18-20