Cambridge Epigenetix launches its first product, TrueMethyl

Cambridge Epigenetix, based on the research of Professor Shankar Balasubramanian and Michael Booth from the Department of Chemistry, has launched its TrueMethylTM kits, which are available via its website.

TrueMethyl™ brings unprecedented clarity to the analysis of DNA by providing quantitative, accurate and repeatable single-base resolution sequencing of the modified bases hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) and methylcytosine (5-mC), which are thought to play a role in gene expression, for the first time. Early studies indicate that these modifications may have distinct and important physiological functions.

Traditional bisulfite sequencing cannot discriminate between 5-hmC and 5-mC. Recent studies have shown that at some sites in the genome the level of 5-hmC can be comparable to the level of 5-mC, emphasizing the importance of identifying these variants accurately. The high quality and easy to use TrueMethyl™ kits utilise innovative oxidative bisulfite sequencing (oxBS-Seq), invented by Professor Balasubramanian and Mr Booth.

TrueMethyl™ kits can be used with a variety of common platforms including next generation sequencing systems, methylation arrays, and targeted assays. Trials of the kits conducted at leading research centres around the world have already begun to yield new insights into genome function and highlighted the advantages of TrueMethyl™ relative to traditional approaches.

Professor Wolf Reik, group leader at the The Babraham Institute and the senior author of the recently published Cell Stem Cell paper which is the first published study using TrueMethyl™ said, “Employing chemical oxidation gives very high conversion efficiencies and minimises sequence context effects, giving results of unparalleled quality. Consequently, this pioneering analytical method opens new avenues for basic research, pharmaceutical discovery and diagnostics technology was pivotal in enabling us to accurately profile 5-hmC and 5-mC during demethylation of DNA.”

Photo credit: Gene expression in normal and cancer cells by Wellcome Images via Flickr

Image: B0004313 Gene expression in normal and cancer cells Credit: Veronique Blanc and Qin Wang. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://images.wellcome.ac.uk Computer analysis of data collected from four different DNA chips. Each line represents one of 22500 different human genes, which have been analysed for any changes that occur in their expression patterns when normal and cancerous cells are treated with a demethylating agent. Methylation of DNA is generally associated with genes being switched off. The point at the left represents the levels of gene expression in normal prostate cells, the first point at which the lines bend shows the levels of expression of the same genes in normal cells treated with the demethylating agent. The second point where the lines change direction shows the gene expression in prostate cancer cells and the point at the far right hand end shows the altered expression levels after demethylation treatment of these cells. The y-axis shows the relative increase or decrease in expression levels over that in normal, unntreated cells. Red represents high levels of gene expression and blue represents low levels. Computer analysis 2002 Published: - Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons by-nc-nd 2.0 UK, see http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/indexplus/page/Prices.html