title: Methyltransferases in myelodysplastic syndromes: guilty or not guilty?
abstract: Hypermethylation of several genes with various functions is frequent in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and has led to the use of demethylating agents in clinical trials. The mechanism of hypermethylation remains unclear, limiting the development of new drugs. Hopfer et al. investigated the role of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) during in vitro MDS hematopoietic cell differentiation. They found that different subtypes of DNMTs were associated with different lineages in MDS, and also during normal hematopoiesis, suggesting that DNMTs contribute to aberrant methylation in MDS but are not the cause of this phenomenon.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Quesnel
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019175:DNA Methylation; D006801:Humans; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D008780:Methyltransferases