Bone remodeling is a diverse field of study with many direct clinical applications; past studies have implicated epigenetic alterations as key factors of both normal bone tissue development and function and diseases of pathologic bone remodeling. Purpose of Review The purpose of this article is to review the most important recent advances that link epigenetic changes to the bone remodeling field. Recent Findings Epigenetics describes three major phenomena: DNA modification via methylation, histone sidechain modifications, and short non-coding RNA sequences which work in concert to regulate gene transcription in a heritable fashion. Recent findings include the role of DNA methylation changes of Wnt, RANK/RANKL, and other key signaling pathways, epigenetic regulation of osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation, and others. Summary Although much work has been done, much is still unknown. Future epigenome-wide studies should focus on extending the tissue coverage, integrating multiple epigenetic analyses with transcriptome data, and working to uncover epigenetic changes linked with early events in aberrant bone remodeling.

In this work, we compared the cancer preventive activities of Polyphenon E (PPE), a standardized green tea polyphenol preparation given in diet versus drinking fluid as well as the activities of PPE versus individual catechins. We treated Apc(Min/+) mice for 9 wk with 0.08% (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), 0.08% (-)-epicatechin-3-gallate, or 0.12% PPE in drinking fluid or diet. Only 0.12% dietary PPE and 0.08% EGCG in drinking fluid significantly decreased tumor multiplicity (70% and 51%, respectively). Compared to PPE in drinking fluid, dietary PPE delivered twofold more EGCG to the small intestine. Immunohistochemistry showed that adenomas in groups treated with PPE and EGCG had decreased cell proliferation, Beta -catenin nuclear expression, and phospho-Akt levels; higher cleaved caspase-3 levels, and partially restored retinoid X receptor alpha expression. The results suggest that these molecular events contribute to the cancer prevention activity of EGCG and PPE. Furthermore, diet appears to be a better route of administration for PPE than drinking fluid.

The effect of a combination of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) with fish oil on intestinal tumorigenesis in Apc (Min/+) mice fed a high-fat diet was investigated in the present study. The combined treatment of EGCG and fish oil for 9 weeks reduced the tumor number by 53% as compared to controls while neither agent alone had a significant effect. Apoptosis was significantly increased in all treatment groups. beta-Catenin nuclear positivity in adenomas from the combination group was lower than control mice, implicating the modulation of Wnt signaling by the combination. Fish oil and the combination significantly reduced prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2) levels in small intestinal tumors as compared to controls, suggesting modulation of aberrant arachidonic acid metabolism by fish oil. Akt phosphorylation in adenomas was significantly reduced in all treatment groups, which may have contributed to the observed increase in apoptosis. The results indicate that a combination of low doses of EGCG and fish oil can inhibit tumor multiplicity in Apc (Min/+) mice.

The development of a simple and efficient synthetic methodology to engineer functional polymer materials for gas adsorption is necessary due to its relevance for various applications. Herein, we report the synthesis of metalorganic poly(vinylene sulfide) copolymers CTP1-3 with iron(II) clathrochelate of various side groups connected by tetraphenylbenzene units. CTP1-3 were subsequently oxidized into their respective poly(vinylene sulfone) copolymers CTP4-6 under green reaction conditions. The target copolymers CTP1-6 were characterized using various instrumental analysis techniques. Examination of the iodine adsorption properties of the copolymers revealed high iodine uptake properties, reaching 2360 mg g−1 for CTP2, and whose reusability tests proved its efficient regeneration, thus proving the importance of iron(II) clathrochelate polymers in iodine capture.