The US Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Epigentek a Notice of Allowance (NoA) for a patent to cover novel methods of rapid quantification of global DNA methylation.
DNA methylation plays a critical role in the regulation of gene function.
Alteration of methylation has been proposed as a molecular marker in multiple biological processes such as cancer.
Therefore, the quantification of global methylation in cancer could provide useful information for detection and analysis of this disease.
Epigentek said this patent award strengthens its intellectual property and product portfolio and further secures its global DNA methylation detection technologies.
The company also filed a related US patent application of a novel method to quantify hydroxymethylated DNA or 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) in a microplate-based, immunospecifically detecting format.
It is believed that 5-hmC plays an important role in switching genes on and off.
Epigentek said that prior to its technology, there were no methods that could be used for practically or routinely identifying 5-hmC and discriminating 5-hydroxymethylcytosine from 5-methylcytosine.
The presence of 5-hmC makes it necessary to not only re-evaluate existing DNA methylation data, but also necessary to determine relative distribution and changes of 5-hmC in human tissues of healthy and diseased statuses.
This technology can be used for rapidly and accurately identifying hydroxymethylated DNA or 5-hmC in a high-throughput format, suitable from any species including mammals, plants, fungi, bacteria and viruses in a variety of forms, including cultured cells, fresh and frozen tissues, paraffin-embedded tissues, plasma/serum samples, and body fluid samples.
