Moshe Szyf's PublicationsS-adenosylmethionine blocks tumorigenesis and with immune checkpoint inhibitor enhances anti-cancer efficacy against BRAF mutant and wildtype melanomas 2023-01-13Despite marked success in treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitor (CPI), only a third of patients are responsive. Thus, melanoma still has one of the highest prevalence and mortality rates; which has led to a search for novel combination therapies that might complement CPI. Aberrant methylomes are one of the mechanisms of resistance to CPI therapy. […]Co-Targeting Luminal B Breast Cancer with S-Adenosylmethionine and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Reduces Primary Tumor Growth and Progression, and Metastasis to Lungs and Bone 2023-01-08Breast cancer (BCa) is the most prevalent cancer in females and has a high rate of mortality, especially due to increased metastasis to skeletal and non-skeletal sites. Despite the marked clinical accomplishment of immune checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) therapy in patients with several cancers, it has had limited success in luminal subtypes of BCa. Accordingly, recent […]Enzyme-free targeted DNA demethylation using CRISPR-dCas9-based steric hindrance to identify DNA methylation marks causal to altered gene expression 2022-10-07DNA methylation involves the enzymatic addition of a methyl group primarily to cytosine residues in DNA. This protocol describes how to produce complete and minimally confounded DNA demethylation of specific sites in the genome of cultured cells by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-dCas9 and without the involvement of an epigenetic-modifying enzyme, the purpose […]Author Correction: [<sup>11</sup>C]Martinostat PET analysis reveals reduced HDAC I availability in Alzheimer's disease 2022-10-03No abstractThe role of DNA demethylation in liver to pancreas transdifferentiation 2022-09-16CONCLUSIONS: Transdifferentiation is associated with global DNA hypomethylation, and with increased expression of specific demethylated genes. A combination of epigenetic modulators may be used to increase chromatin accessibility of the pancreatic transcription factors, thus promoting the efficiency of the developmental process.Epigenetic perspectives of COVID-19: Virus infection to disease progression and therapeutic control 2022-08-24COVID-19 has caused numerous deaths as well as imposed social isolation and upheaval world-wide. Although, the genome and the composition of the virus, the entry process and replication mechanisms are well investigated from by several laboratories across the world, there are many unknown remaining questions. For example, what are the functions of membrane lipids during […]Correction for: Potential reversal of epigenetic age using a diet and lifestyle intervention: a pilot randomized clinical trial 2022-07-30No abstract[<sup>11</sup>C]Martinostat PET analysis reveals reduced HDAC I availability in Alzheimer's disease 2022-07-19Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the brain accumulation of amyloid-β and tau proteins. A growing body of literature suggests that epigenetic dysregulations play a role in the interplay of hallmark proteinopathies with neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment. Here, we aim to characterize an epigenetic dysregulation associated with the brain deposition of amyloid-β and tau proteins. […]Modulation of DNA methylation and protein expression in the prefrontal cortex by repeated administration of D-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD): Impact on neurotropic, neurotrophic, and neuroplasticity signaling 2022-07-01CONCLUSIONS: LSD affects DNA methylation, altering gene expression and protein expression related to neurotropic-, neurotrophic- and neuroplasticity signaling. This could represent a core mechanism mediating the effects of psychedelics.DNA methylation in people with anorexia nervosa: Epigenome-wide patterns in actively ill, long-term remitted, and healthy-eater women 2022-06-15CONCLUSIONS: Findings corroborate earlier results suggesting reversible DNA methylation alterations in AN, and point to particular genes at which epigenetic mechanisms may act to shape AN phenomenology.Building knowledge, optimising physical and mental health and setting up healthier life trajectories in South African women (<em>Bukhali</em>): a preconception randomised control trial part of the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI) 2022-04-22INTRODUCTION: South Africa's evolving burden of disease is challenging due to a persistent infectious disease, burgeoning obesity, most notably among women and rising rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). With two thirds of women presenting at their first antenatal visit either overweight or obese in urban South Africa (SA), the preconception period is an opportunity to […]Corrigendum to "Pharmacological inhibition of DNA methylation induces proinvasive and prometastatic genes in vitro and in vivo" [Neoplasia 10/3 (2008) 266-278] 2022-04-02No abstractThe epigenetics of early life adversity and trauma inheritance: an interview with Moshe Szyf 2021-12-08In this interview, Professor Moshe Szyf speaks with Storm Johnson, Commissioning Editor for Epigenomics, on his work to date in the field of social epigenetics. Szyf received his PhD from the Hebrew University and did his postdoctoral fellowship in genetics at Harvard Medical School, joined the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University in […]Epigenetic signature of chronic low back pain in human T cells 2021-11-08CONCLUSION: This study reveals sex-specific DNA methylation signatures in human T cells that discriminates chronic LBP participants from healthy controls.Unraveling the functional role of DNA demethylation at specific promoters by targeted steric blockage of DNA methyltransferase with CRISPR/dCas9 2021-09-30Despite four decades of research to support the association between DNA methylation and gene expression, the causality of this relationship remains unresolved. Here, we reaffirm that experimental confounds preclude resolution of this question with existing strategies, including recently developed CRISPR/dCas9 and TET-based epigenetic editors. Instead, we demonstrate a highly effective method using only nuclease-dead Cas9 […]The methyl donor S-adenosyl methionine reverses the DNA methylation signature of chronic neuropathic pain in mouse frontal cortex 2021-07-19CONCLUSION: These results suggest a role for the epigenome in the maintenance of chronic pain and advance epigenetic modulators such as SAM as a novel approach to treat chronic pain.Reduction of DNMT3a and RORA in the nucleus accumbens plays a causal role in post-traumatic stress disorder-like behavior: reversal by combinatorial epigenetic therapy 2021-07-13Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an incapacitating trauma-related disorder, with no reliable therapy. Although PTSD has been associated with epigenetic alterations in peripheral white blood cells, it is unknown where such changes occur in the brain, and whether they play a causal role in PTSD. Using an animal PTSD model, we show distinct DNA methylation […]Are the Healthy Vulnerable? Cytomegalovirus Seropositivity in Healthy Adults Is Associated With Accelerated Epigenetic Age and Immune Dysregulation 2021-07-13CONCLUSIONS: Our novel findings distinguish altered immunity in the elderly based on CMV status. Chronic CMV infection in healthy, older adults is associated with indicators of immune dysregulation, both of which correlate to differences in EpiAge.Perinatal stress and epigenetics 2021-07-06Animal and humans exposed to stress early in life are more likely to suffer from long-term behavioral, mental health, metabolic, immune, and cardiovascular health consequences. The hypothalamus plays a nodal role in programming, controlling, and regulating stress responses throughout the life course. Epigenetic reprogramming in the hippocampus and the hypothalamus play an important role in […]Identification of an Epigenetic Signature of Osteoporosis in Blood DNA of Postmenopausal Women 2021-06-22No abstract READ MORE THAN 300 PUBLICATIONS ON PubMed®