Tight interaction between densely methylated DNA fragments and the methyl-CpG binding domain of the rat MeCP2 protein attached to a solid support.
In a previous report we have found that a number of short DNA fragments methylated at CpG sequences bound more tightly to a methyl-CpG binding column than DNA fragments having a larger number of methyl-CpG sequences. The column consists of a polypeptide comprising the DNA binding domain of the rat MeCP2 protein attached to a solid support. In the present study, we have investigated the features of short DNA fragments which bind tightly to a methyl-CpG binding column. Tight binding was observed when the DNA fragment had a high density of methyl-CpG sequences. Many of these fragments, derived from human genomic DNA, contained Alu repeated sequences supporting the previous observation that the highly-abundant Alu sequences are highly methylated. Our results suggest that methyl-CpG density is an important factor in the interaction between DNA fragments and the DNA binding domain of MeCP2 attached to a solid support.
Shiraishi
M
M
Oncogene Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
Sekiguchi
A
A
Chuu
Y H
YH
Sekiya
T
T
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D018899:CpG Islands; D004247:DNA; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D051783:Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051381:Rats; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C497392:MECP2 protein, human; C497394:Mecp2 protein, rat; D051783:Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D004247:DNA