Biology Commons^™

Examination Of Methylation Status And Occupancy Of Dna Methylation Modifying Proteins On Regulatory Regions Of The Dax-1 Gene, Caroline P. Riedstra

Master's Theses

Epigenetic modifications influence gene expression and thereby play a pivotal role in development and disease. Misregulation and mutations in the DAX-1 gene, or Dosage-Sensitive Sex Reversal, Adrenal Hypoplasia Congenita, Critical Region on the X chromosome, gene 1, have been implicated in Adrenal Hypoplasia Congenita (AHC) and Dosage Sensitive Sex Reversal (DSS). The orphan nuclear hormone receptor DAX-1 is expressed predominantly in tissues such as the testes, ovaries, breast, adrenal cortex, and lung. Critically, DAX-1 may serve as an indicator of aberrant growth in these tissues. Here we hypothesize that DAX-1 is epigenetically regulated, specifically in cancer cells, thereby reducing its …

Methylation-Specific Differentiation Of Vaginal Epithelial Cells For Forensic Tissue Typing By Bisulfite Conversion And Pyrosequencing, Elise Pood

Master's Theses

The identification of bodily fluids and tissues is often applied to criminal investigations to clarify events that may or may not have taken place. Current forensic techniques can identify blood, saliva, seminal fluid, and spermatozoa, but there is a clear absence of reliable testing to identify vaginal epithelial tissue. Though there are serological tests available for this purpose, tissue-specific methylation markers have recently been investigated as a candidate for the identification of blood, saliva, and spermatozoa.

In this study, tissue-specific methylation markers were analyzed to identify a set of markers for the differentiation of vaginal fluid from blood, saliva, and …