An Overview of the Analysis of DNA Methylation in Mammalian Genomes
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Masahiko Shiraishi
Abstract
DNA methylation at position C5 of the pyrimidine ring of cytosine in mammalian genomes has received a great deal of research interest due to its importance in many biological phenomena. It is associated with events such as epigenetic gene silencing and the maintenance of genome integrity. Aberrant DNA methylation, particularly that of chromosomal regions called CpG islands, is an important step in carcinogenesis. In order to elucidate methylation profiling of complex genomes, various methods have been developed. Many of these methods are based on the differential reactivity of cytosine and 5-methylcytosine to various chemicals. The combined use of these chemical reactions and other preexisting methods has enabled the discrimination of cytosine and 5- methylcytosine in complex genomes. The use of proteins that preferentially bind to methylated DNA has also successfully been used to discriminate between methylated and unmethylated sites. The chemical and structural dissection of the in vivo processes of enzymatic methylation and the binding of methyl CpG binding proteins provides evidence for the complex mechanisms that nature has acquired. In this review we summarize the methods available for the discrimination between cytosine and 5-methylcytosine in complex genomes.
Copyright © 2002 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
Articles in the same Issue
- Highlight: Environmental Mutagenesis
- DNA Double-Strand Break Repair by Homologous Recombination
- An Overview of the Analysis of DNA Methylation in Mammalian Genomes
- Methylation of the RASSF1A Gene in Human Cancers
- Exocyclic DNA Adducts as Oxidative Stress Markers in Colon Carcinogenesis: Potential Role of Lipid Peroxidation, Dietary Fat and Antioxidants
- DNA Polymorphisms as Modulators of Genotoxicity and Cancer
- Recent Aspects of Oxidative DNA Damage: Guanine Lesions, Measurement and Substrate Specificity of DNA Repair Glycosylases
- The Bacterial Regulatory Protein H-NS A Versatile Modulator of Nucleic Acid Structures
- Molecular Mechanisms of Nickel Carcinogenesis
- DNA Binding Properties of the Yeast Msh2-Msh6 and Mlh1-Pms1 Heterodimers
- N-Hydroxyarylamine O-Acetyltransferase-Deficient Escherichia coli Strains Are Resistant to the Mutagenicity of Nitro Compounds
- Functional Genomics of C190T Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Human N-Acetyltransferase 2
- Increase in Ceramide Level Alters the Lysosomal Targeting of Cathepsin D prior to Onset of Apoptosis in HT-29 Colon Cancer Cells
- Reconstitution of Transport-Active Multidrug Resistance Protein 2 (MRP2; ABCC2) in Proteoliposomes
- Processing of the Human Transferrin Receptor at Distinct Positions within the Stalk Region by Neutrophil Elastase and Cathepsin G
- Analysis of the Prion Protein in Primates Reveals a New Polymorphism in Codon 226 (Y226F)
- Inducibility of the Streptomyces traRts107-Ptra Expression Cassette in Mycobacterium smegmatis
Articles in the same Issue
- Highlight: Environmental Mutagenesis
- DNA Double-Strand Break Repair by Homologous Recombination
- An Overview of the Analysis of DNA Methylation in Mammalian Genomes
- Methylation of the RASSF1A Gene in Human Cancers
- Exocyclic DNA Adducts as Oxidative Stress Markers in Colon Carcinogenesis: Potential Role of Lipid Peroxidation, Dietary Fat and Antioxidants
- DNA Polymorphisms as Modulators of Genotoxicity and Cancer
- Recent Aspects of Oxidative DNA Damage: Guanine Lesions, Measurement and Substrate Specificity of DNA Repair Glycosylases
- The Bacterial Regulatory Protein H-NS A Versatile Modulator of Nucleic Acid Structures
- Molecular Mechanisms of Nickel Carcinogenesis
- DNA Binding Properties of the Yeast Msh2-Msh6 and Mlh1-Pms1 Heterodimers
- N-Hydroxyarylamine O-Acetyltransferase-Deficient Escherichia coli Strains Are Resistant to the Mutagenicity of Nitro Compounds
- Functional Genomics of C190T Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in Human N-Acetyltransferase 2
- Increase in Ceramide Level Alters the Lysosomal Targeting of Cathepsin D prior to Onset of Apoptosis in HT-29 Colon Cancer Cells
- Reconstitution of Transport-Active Multidrug Resistance Protein 2 (MRP2; ABCC2) in Proteoliposomes
- Processing of the Human Transferrin Receptor at Distinct Positions within the Stalk Region by Neutrophil Elastase and Cathepsin G
- Analysis of the Prion Protein in Primates Reveals a New Polymorphism in Codon 226 (Y226F)
- Inducibility of the Streptomyces traRts107-Ptra Expression Cassette in Mycobacterium smegmatis
