MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Biotechniques. 2010 Apr;48(4):317-9. doi: 10.2144/000113403.
DNA cytosine methylation (5mC) is highly abundant in mammalian cells and is associated with transcriptional repression. Recently, hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC) has been detected at high levels in certain human cell types; however, its roles are unknown. Due to the structural similarity between 5mC and hmC, it is unclear whether 5mC analyses can discriminate between these nucleotides. Here we show that 5mC and hmC are experimentally indistinguishable using established 5mC mapping methods, thereby implying that existing 5mC data sets will require careful re-evaluation in the context of the possible presence of hmC. Potential differential enrichment of 5mC and hmC DNA sequences may be facilitated using a 5mC monoclonal antibody.
DNA 胞嘧啶甲基化 (5mC) 在哺乳动物细胞中含量丰富，与转录抑制有关。最近，在某些人类细胞类型中高水平检测到羟甲基胞嘧啶 (hmC)；然而，其作用尚不清楚。由于 5mC 和 hmC 之间的结构相似性，不清楚 5mC 分析是否可以区分这两种核苷酸。在这里，我们使用已建立的 5mC 作图方法表明 5mC 和 hmC 在实验上是无法区分的，这意味着在可能存在 hmC 的情况下，现有的 5mC 数据集需要仔细重新评估。使用 5mC 单克隆抗体可能会促进 5mC 和 hmC DNA 序列的潜在差异富集。
