DNA Methylation Flashcards
Programming of the genome is controlled by the epigenome
-the epigenome is composed of 2 main components
- Histones
- associated with the DNA
- DNA methylation
- covalently bound to the genome and thus a stable long term signal
History of DNA methylation
- Rollin hotchkiss discovered methylated DNA in 1948
- found that DNA from certain sources contained a fifth 5-methyl cytosine base
- took almost 3 decades to find a role for it
- in mid 1970s, Harold Weintraub noticed that active genes are low in methyl groups or under methylated
- methylation help repress genes
Distribution of DNA methylation
- chemical modification of DNA
- can be inherited without sequence change
- common in plants (30%), vertebrates (10%) and fungi
- absent in yeast, flies, nematodes
- occurs predominantly at 5’-CG-3’ (CpG positions)
- in mammals, 60-90% of CpG sites are methylated
- high frequency of CG dinucleotide, CpG islands
- typically 300-3000 base pair in length and hypomethylated
- near approximately 70% of human promoters
- methylation correlated with tissue specific gene expression
Methylation of cytosine by DNA methytransferase (DMNT)
Cytosine —> 5-methylcytosine (5mc)
-via DNMT
- cytosine methylation maintains inactive-condensed chromatin state
- found in heterochromatin regions
Euchromatin vs Heterochromatin
- euchromatin
- high histone acetylation
- low DNA methylation
- H3-K4 methylation
- heterochromatin
- low histone acetylation
- dense DNA methylation
- H3-K9 methylation
DNMT3L
-closely related to DNMT3A/B in structure and critical for methylation but is inactive on its own
Types of DNA methylation
- Maintenance methylation (DNMT1)
- methylation of newly synthesized DNA strand at positions opposite methylated sites on parent strand (occurs after DNA replication)
- De novo methylation (DNMT3A/B)
- methylation of totally new positions
- changes the pattern of methylation in a localized region of genome during gametogenesis and early development
DNA methylation Analysis:
Sodium bisulfite sequencing
- methylated cytosine is unaffected
- converts unmethylated cytosine to uracil
- during PCR and subsequent sequencing, the ratio of cytosine and thymine present at each CpG site is quantified and reflects methylation level of that site in genomic DNA
Biological function of DNA methylation
- transcriptional regulation of cellular genes
- role in mammalian development including imprinting
-heterochromatin formation
Essential DNMTs
- DNMT1:embryonic lethal
- DNMT2: no obvious effect
- DNMT3A: perinatal death
- DNMT3B: embryonic lethal
- DNMT3L: no imprints
- important in finding methyl groups
- require energy domains
- writers (DNMTS), readers (MBD proteins), erasers (DNA demethylases)
Mediators of methylation induced gene silencing
-NURD (nucleosome remodelling deacetylase complex)
-bind to methylated DNA and bring complexes in remodeling
-recruiting suppressor complexes
-IL4 and TH2 helpers memory cells
-certain genes have to be expressed/suppressed to remember immune responses
-
Pathways for DNMTs to be recruits
- PWWP domain
- TGS domain
- MBDs dock into methylated regions
- steric hinderance blocks activating transcription factors
MBDs
- MECP2
- role in binding to methylated sites
- absent/present in certain species
- categorize different species and how their genes are regulated
- mutations of MBDs cause different diseases
- most die early on (lethal)
- important for differentiation
- methyl binding domains missing can cause certain cancers
- KO of MBDs can cause autism and have deficit in adult neurogenesis and hippocampal function
-
Mediators of methylation induced gene silencing
- KO or mutation of methyl CpG binding proteins lose attraction of NURD complex and problem of suppressing genes
- genes will be inappropriately expressed
- mental retardation
Stable repression of gene expression through development
- if you dont want it to be permanently methylated
- like through development
- phosphorylation of MECP2
- undergoes conformational change and loses capacity to bind to repressor complex
- liberation of repressor complex
- TFs are transient, DNA methylation is not
-MECP2 is phosphorylated and causes all suppression complexes to release and gene then expressed