Adams R L, Eason R
Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Jul 25;12(14):5869-77. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.14.5869.
The vertebrate genome is a mosaic of regions differing dramatically in their G + C content. Those regions with a high G + C content contain the expected number of CpG dinucleotides and we propose that following methylation these have been protected from deamination by the increased stability of the surrounding DNA duplex. This argument applies both to the microenvironment of the CpG dinucleotide and to whole gene regions.
脊椎动物基因组是由G + C含量差异极大的区域组成的镶嵌体。那些G + C含量高的区域含有预期数量的CpG二核苷酸,我们认为,甲基化后,由于周围DNA双链稳定性增加,这些二核苷酸受到保护而不发生脱氨基作用。这一观点既适用于CpG二核苷酸的微环境,也适用于整个基因区域。