DNA methylation

J. de Ridder and colleagues conducted a study on the development and use of a neural network classifier called Sturgeon for classifying central nervous system (CNS) tumors during surgery. They have recently published their work in Nature (DOI:10.1038/s41586-023-06615-2). The team addressed the limitations of current methods for determining precise tumor types prior to surgery and explored the potential benefits of using rapid nanopore sequencing to obtain a methylation profile during surgery.

The human brain is a complex organ with a wide variety of cell types and intricate gene regulation processes. Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, play a crucial role in gene expression and regulation. Studying DNA methylation patterns at a single-cell resolution can provide insights into the diverse cellular composition and functional diversity of the human brain. Prof. Joseph R. Ecker from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has recently reported the discovery concerning DNA methylation in brain maps.