Luka Zigmund, Mudd S Harvey, Wagner Conrad
Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA.
J Biol Chem. 2009 Aug 21;284(34):22507-11. doi: 10.1074/jbc.R109.019273. Epub 2009 May 29.
Methylation is a major biological process. It has been shown to be important in formation of compounds such as phosphatidylcholine, creatine, and many others and also participates in epigenetic effects through methylation of histones and DNA. The donor of methyl groups for almost all cellular methylation reactions is S-adenosylmethionine. It seems that the level of S-adenosylmethionine must be regulated in response to developmental stages and metabolic changes, and the enzyme glycine N-methyltransferase has been shown to play a major role in such regulation in mammals. This minireview will focus on the latest discoveries in the elucidation of the mechanism of that regulation.
甲基化是一个主要的生物学过程。已证明它在磷脂酰胆碱、肌酸等多种化合物的形成中很重要，并且还通过组蛋白和DNA的甲基化参与表观遗传效应。几乎所有细胞甲基化反应的甲基供体都是S-腺苷甲硫氨酸。似乎S-腺苷甲硫氨酸的水平必须根据发育阶段和代谢变化进行调节，并且已证明甘氨酸N-甲基转移酶在哺乳动物的这种调节中起主要作用。本综述将聚焦于该调节机制阐释方面的最新发现。
