Because primary cells are sensitive to artificial treatment, we used techniques that identified cell cycle stage (rather than cell synchronization) to minimize the risk of interfering with normal accumulation (or loss) of transient modifications.
Even though alterations in the histone landscape may be transient, modifications occurring during critical developmental windows can permanently alter the brain.
These transient modifications are dynamically established by enzymes which respond to intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli, and include methylation, histone acetylation, phosphorylation, ubiquitination, citrullination, sumoylation, and ADP ribosylation.
As transplantation of intact islets advances in clinical trials, clinical applications requiring direct modification of gene expression to improve islet survival and engraftment would likely rely on transient modifications that do not result in permanent integration of genetic constructs.
Various types of protein-protein interactions (PPI) have been documented, ranging from PPI that bring about assembly of stable protein complexes to PPI that cause transient modifications (e.g., phosphorylation) of target proteins.
