General Usage

Access the UCSC Genome Browser via http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgGateway. We will first choose the "Configure tracks and display" button to make some changes.

The default text size is "8" which is very small, we will change the size to "12". You can also change the image to to fit your screen size, such as "800" pixel for smaller monitors, or "1200" or more for larger monitors. Click "Submit" to make the change.

When we go to the Browser page, click "Hide all" to close all data tracks. We will load the publically available DNA methylation data tracks using the Track hubs function.

Look for the DNA Methylation hub and click on "Connect" to add the this hub into our UCSC Genome Browser window.

When we are directed back to the home page, choose hg18 assembly, and key in XIST into the search term field and click "Submit".

Sometime the search terms may yield results from different gene annotation sources. We will choose the XIST gene from the UCSC Genes in this case. Feel free to choose other sources.

When directed back to the browser, we can now view the data tracks of several methylomes, and the UCSC Genes track below the methylation data tracks.

There are more DNA methylation tracks available in this public hub below the main view window.

By clicking on any one of the track title, such as [Pub] Lister 2009, you can change the mode of display and the types of tracks to show in the main window from this source. Feel free to try different settings.