Article:
This was a recent article released regarding research that demonstrated how the ZNF (Zinc finger) gene family acts as a puberty “break” by repressing the network of genes that initiate pubertal development. This was interesting to me as I’ve always wondered why girls today are beginning puberty a lot earlier. The paper’s new discovery could allow scientists to assess whether environmental factors, such as nutrition or human-made products, may accelerate reproductive development by epigenetically inhibiting gene repressors (ZNFs). ZNFs are thought to act epigenetically by promoting the loss of H3K4me2, which is normally associated with gene activation, at gene regions that facilitate puberty. Thus, when levels of ZNFs decrease in the hypothalamus around late prepubertal development, the “break” is released and puberty begins. Such a discovery can promote new avenues for treating precocious puberty and its associated risks of breast, ovarian and uterine cancer.