Immunologic Profiling
June 10, 2014 | Terry Sharrer

Signature Degrees of Methylation in DNA
Infections elicit immune system responses with several kinds of leukocytes. Variation arises from both the pathogen and the host’s immune competency, with different levels of T-cells, NK-cells, B-cells, monocytes, basophils, eosinophils and neutrophils coming to the defense. Expression levels of those leukocytes depend on their “epigenetic marks,” as researchers at Harvard’s School of Public Health have termed it. Methylation, for example, is an epigenetic mark, and the array of marks creates a distinct methylation signature which offers a new, more accurate and less costly, tool for tracking epidemics. MORE
Image Credit: Kelsey lab/Brown University and MedicalNewsToday.com