Skip Navigation

Nucleic Acids Research 2006 34(4):1182-1188; doi:10.1093/nar/gkl002
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow Print PDF (134K) Freely available
Right arrow Screen PDF (189K) Freely available
Right arrow Supplementary Data
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (6)
Right arrow Commercial Re-use Guidelines
for Open Access NAR Content
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Goyal, R.
Right arrow Articles by Jeltsch, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Goyal, R.
Right arrow Articles by Jeltsch, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published online 25 February 2006

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions{at}oxfordjournals.org

Article

Accuracy of DNA methylation pattern preservation by the Dnmt1 methyltransferase

Rachna Goyal1, Richard Reinhardt2 and Albert Jeltsch3,*

1Institut für Biochemie FB 08, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 58, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany 2Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics Ihnestrasse 63-73, D-14195 Berlin-Dahlem, Germany 3Biochemistry, International University Bremen, School of Engineering and Science Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +49 421 200 3247; Fax: +49 421 200 3249; Email: a.jeltsch{at}iu-bremen.de

Received December 22, 2005. Revised January 23, 2006. Accepted February 9, 2006.

DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) has a central role in copying the pattern of DNA methylation after replication which is one manifestation of epigenetic inheritance. With oligonculeotide substrates we show that mouse Dnmt1 has a 30- to 40-fold preference for hemimethylated DNA that is almost lost after addition of fully methylated oligonucleotides. Using long hemimethylated DNA substrates that carry defined methylation patterns and bisulfite analysis of the methylation reaction products, we show a 15-fold preference for hemimethylated CG sites. Dnmt1 moves along the DNA in a random walk methylating hemimethylated substrates with high processivity (>50 sites are visited on average which corresponds to linear diffusion over 6000 bp). The frequency of skipping sites is very low (<0.3%) and there is no detectable flanking sequence preference. CGCTC sites tend to terminate the processive methylation of DNA by Dnmt1. Unmethylated DNA is modified non-processively with a preference for methylation at CCGG sites. We simulate the propagation of methylation patterns using a stochastic model with the specificity of Dnmt1 observed here and conclude that either methylation of several sites is required to propagate the methylation information over several cellular generations or additional epigenetic information must be used.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev.Home page
D. M. Euhus, D. Bu, S. Milchgrub, X.-J. Xie, A. Bian, A. M. Leitch, and C. M. Lewis
DNA Methylation in Benign Breast Epithelium in Relation to Age and Breast Cancer Risk
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., May 1, 2008; 17(5): 1051 - 1059.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol. Cell. Biol.Home page
S.-i. Takebayashi, T. Tamura, C. Matsuoka, and M. Okano
Major and Essential Role for the DNA Methylation Mark in Mouse Embryogenesis and Stable Association of DNMT1 with Newly Replicated Regions
Mol. Cell. Biol., December 1, 2007; 27(23): 8243 - 8258.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Hum Mol GenetHome page
N. C. Whitelaw and E. Whitelaw
How lifetimes shape epigenotype within and across generations
Hum. Mol. Genet., October 15, 2006; 15(suppl_2): R131 - R137.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.