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Epigenomics. 2011 Feb;3(1):93-101. doi: 10.2217/epi.10.69.
Methylation of cytosine in the context of CpG dinucleotides is an epigenetic phenomenon in eukaryotes that plays important roles in genome function and transcription regulation. Aberrant changes in DNA methylation is an important feature of several human diseases such as cancer and neurological disorders. These discoveries have opened a new field of new therapies and diagnostics. During recent years, there has been a revolution in DNA methylation analysis technologies. This article focuses on methods with which to study DNA methylation that employ protein domains that specifically recognize either 5-methyl-cytosine in the CpG context or nonmethylated DNA, and methods developed for the detection of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, the recently described epigenetic mark known as the sixth base of the epigenome.
在真核生物中,胞嘧啶的甲基化是一种表观遗传现象,它在基因组功能和转录调控中起着重要作用。DNA 甲基化的异常改变是几种人类疾病(如癌症和神经紊乱)的一个重要特征。这些发现开辟了新疗法和新诊断的新领域。近年来,DNA 甲基化分析技术发生了革命性变化。本文重点介绍了利用专门识别 CpG 环境中的 5-甲基胞嘧啶或非甲基化 DNA 的蛋白质结构域,以及为检测最近被描述为表观基因组第六碱基的表观遗传标记 5-羟甲基胞嘧啶而开发的方法来研究 DNA 甲基化的方法。