A DNA signal from the Thy-1 gene defines de novo methylation patterns in embryonic stem cells.
Although DNA can be extensively methylated de novo when introduced into pluripotent cells, the CpG island in the Thy-1 gene does not become methylated either in the mouse embryo or in embryonic stem cells. A 214-base-pair region near the promoter of the Thy-1 gene protects itself as well as heterologous DNA sequences from de novo methylation. We propose that this nucleotide sequence is representative of a class of important signals that limits de novo methylation in the embryo and establishes the pattern of hypomethylated CpG dinucleotides found in somatic tissues.
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Department of Genetics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Tanigawa
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G
McCarthy
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PL
D000818:Animals; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005796:Genes; D008745:Methylation; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens; D014162:Transfection
D000954:Antigens, Surface; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens; D004247:DNA