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Abstract Background Despite evidence linking obesity to impaired immune function, little is known about the specific mechanisms. Because of emerging evidence that immune responses are epigenetically regulated, we hypothesized that DNA methylation changes are involved in obesity induced immune dysfunction and aimed to identify these changes. Method We conducted a genome wide methylation analysis on seven obese cases and seven lean controls aged 14 to 18 years from extreme ends of the obesity distribution and performed further validation of six CpG sites from six genes in 46 obese cases and 46 lean controls aged 14 to 30 years. Results In comparison with the lean controls, we observed one CpG site in the UBASH3A gene showing higher methylation levels and one CpG site in the TRIM3 gene showing lower methylation levels in the obese cases in both the genome wide step (P = 5 × 10-6 and P = 2 × 10-5 for the UBASH3A and the TRIM3 gene respectively) and the validation step (P = 0.008 and P = 0.001 for the UBASH3A and the TRIM3 gene respectively). Conclusions Our results provide evidence that obesity is associated with methylation changes in blood leukocyte DNA. Further studies are warranted to determine the causal direction of this relationship as well as whether such methylation changes can lead to immune dysfunction. See commentary: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/8/88/abstract

Central nervous system tumors are extremely rare in the pediatric population and molecularly heterogeneous. Growing scientific research and clinical practice experience are improving medical therapies to increase survival outcomes and quality of life and reduce side effects. The 2019 Neurobiology of Disease in Children Symposium, held in conjunction with the 48th annual meeting of the Child Neurology Society, aimed to (1) describe molecular advances in tumor classification, (2) better understand the evolution of targeted therapies, and (3) more clearly formulate a treatment plan for patients. The article summarizes the presentations and includes an edited transcript of a panel discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Pluripotent mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells can be induced in vitro to become neural progenitors. Upon transplantation, neural progenitors migrate toward areas of damage and inflammation in the CNS. We tested whether undifferentiated and neuralized mouse ES cells migrate toward media conditioned by glioma cell lines (C6, U87 & N1321) or Stem Cell Factor (SCF). Results Cell migration assays revealed selective migration by neuralized ES cells to conditioned media as well as to synthetic SCF. Migration of undifferentiated ES cells was extensive, but not significantly different from that of controls (Unconditioned Medium). RT-PCR analysis revealed that all the three tumor cell lines tested synthesized SCF and that both undifferentiated and neuralized ES cells expressed c-kit, the receptor for SCF. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that undifferentiated ES cells are highly mobile and that neural progenitors derived from ES cells are selectively attracted toward factors produced by gliomas. Given that the glioma cell lines synthesize SCF, SCF may be one of several factors that contribute to the selective migration observed.

Epileptic encephalopathies encompass a heterogeneous group of epilepsy syndromes that manifest with cognitive, behavioral, and neurologic deficits, seizures that are often intractable and multiform, aggressive electroencephalographic paroxysmal activity, and sometimes early death. As more is learned about the etiologies and manifestations of epileptic encephalopathies, progress has been made toward better treatment options. However, there is still a great need for further randomized controlled trials and research to help create clinically effective therapies. The 2015 Neurobiology of Disease in Children symposium, held in conjunction with the 44th annual meeting of the Child Neurology Society, aimed to (1) describe the clinical concerns involving diagnosis and treatment, (2) review the current status of understanding in the pathogenesis of epileptic encephalopathy, (3) discuss clinical management and therapies for epileptic encephalopathy, and (4) define future directions of research. This article summarizes the presentations and includes an edited transcript of question-and-answer sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]