Rethinking how DNA methylation patterns are maintained.
DNA methylation patterns are set up early in mammalian development and are then copied during the division of somatic cells. A long-established model for the maintenance of these patterns explains some, but not all, of the data that are now available. We propose a new model that suggests that the maintenance of DNA methylation relies not only on the recognition of hemimethylated DNA by DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) but also on the localization of the DNMT3A and DNMT3B enzymes to specific chromatin regions that contain methylated DNA.
Peter A. Jones and Gangning Liang are at the Department of Urology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-9181, USA. jones_p@ccnt.usc.edu
Peter A
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Jones
Gangning
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Liang
D000818:Animals; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans