Cover: DNA methylation is a type of chemical modification which involves the addition of a methyl group to the carbon-5 of the cytosine pyrimidine ring. The addition of methyl groups to a stretch of DNA (enlarged in the bottom right corner), can silence the genes in that chromosomal region. The molecules at the bottom represent such methyl-groups, which are usually attached to CpG dinucleotides in the mammalian genome. The illustration also shows the human chromosomes, which can potentially be screened for DNA methylation in the not so distant future with the ‘epigenetic’ microarray method presented in this issue [Schumacher et al. (2006) Nucleic Acids Res., 34, 528–542].
Highlighted in red are human chromosomes 21 and 22 that were interrogated for DNA methylation patterns with high-density Affymetrix tiling arrays. The cover was designed by Axel Schumacher, Groupleader Epigenetics, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, TU-Munich, GER.
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