title: Transcription factors as readers and effectors of DNA methylation.
abstract: Recent technological advances have made it possible to decode DNA methylomes at single-base-pair resolution under various physiological conditions. Many aberrant or differentially methylated sites have been discovered, but the mechanisms by which changes in DNA methylation lead to observed phenotypes, such as cancer, remain elusive. The classical view of methylation-mediated protein-DNA interactions is that only proteins with a methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD) can interact with methylated DNA. However, evidence is emerging to suggest that transcription factors lacking a MBD can also interact with methylated DNA. The identification of these proteins and the elucidation of their characteristics and the biological consequences of methylation-dependent transcription factor-DNA interactions are important stepping stones towards a mechanistic understanding of methylation-mediated biological processes, which have crucial implications for human development and disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Edward Miller Research Building, 733 North Broadway, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.|The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, The Smith Building, 400 North Broadway, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.|The Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, The Smith Building, 400 North Broadway, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qian
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D004247:DNA