Clark S J, Harrison J, Frommer M
Kanematsu Laboratories, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.
Nat Genet. 1995 May;10(1):20-7. doi: 10.1038/ng0595-20.
In vertebrate DNA, 3% to 5% of cytosine residues are present as 5-methylcytosine, and it is generally accepted that essentially all of this methylation occurs at cytosines which are contained in the symmetrical dinucleotide CpG. In this report we demonstrate, using bisulphite genomic sequencing, that the methylation machinery of mammalian cells is capable of both maintenance and de novo methylation at CpNpG sites. The existence of inherited CpNpG methylation in mammalian cells has important implications in gene regulation and in the aetiology of disease.
在脊椎动物的DNA中，3%至5%的胞嘧啶残基以5-甲基胞嘧啶的形式存在，并且人们普遍认为，基本上所有这种甲基化都发生在对称二核苷酸CpG所含的胞嘧啶上。在本报告中，我们使用亚硫酸氢盐基因组测序证明，哺乳动物细胞的甲基化机制能够在CpNpG位点进行维持性甲基化和从头甲基化。哺乳动物细胞中遗传性CpNpG甲基化的存在对基因调控和疾病病因学具有重要意义。
