-- Researchers have discovered that a natural chemical process that usually turns off gene activity can sometimes work like a dimmer switch and instead simply turn down the activity.

The finding comes from a new study of a gene known as C/EBPa (for CAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha). The gene is often far less active in lung-cancer cells and other malignancies than it is in normal cells, but scientists didn't know why until now.

The study shows that in lung-cancer cells the gene is shut down by a chemical change known as DNA methylation, and that the chemical change occurs along an unexpected place in the gene. This could be a new model for how DNA methylation can regulate gene activity, says study leader Christoph Plass, professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics and a researcher with Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center.

-- > SEE: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/lungjnci.htm