Enzymatic approaches and bisulfite sequencing cannot distinguish between 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in DNA.

Colm Nestor, Alexey Ruzov, Richard Meehan, Donncha Dunican

Journal: BioTechniques 2010;48(4):317-9

PMID: 20569209

Abstract

DNA cytosine methylation (5mC) is highly abundant in mammalian cells and is associated with transcriptional repression. Recently, hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC) has been detected at high levels in certain human cell types; however, its roles are unknown. Due to the structural similarity between 5mC and hmC, it is unclear whether 5mC analyses can discriminate between these nucleotides. Here we show that 5mC and hmC are experimentally indistinguishable using established 5mC mapping methods, thereby implying that existing 5mC data sets will require careful re-evaluation in the context of the possible presence of hmC. Potential differential enrichment of 5mC and hmC DNA sequences may be facilitated using a 5mC monoclonal antibody.

Address: MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland.

DOI: 10.2144/000113403

Link outs

Free resources

Full Text Sources:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.2144/000113403?...

Other Literature Sources:

https://www.lens.org/lens/search/patent/list?q=ref...

Molecular Biology Databases:

http://rebase.neb.com/rebase/refs/11692.html

MeSH Terms: 5-Methylcytosine, CpG Islands, Cytosine, DNA, DNA Methylation, DNA Restriction Enzymes, Genes, BRCA1, Humans, Octamer Transcription Factor-3, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Sulfites