Substrate and sequence specificity of a eukaryotic DNA methylase (original) (raw)
- Letter
- Published: 18 February 1982
Nature volume 295, pages 620–622 (1982)Cite this article
- 945 Accesses
- 350 Citations
- 7 Altmetric
- Metrics details
Abstract
In eukaryotic DNA, 50–90% of the dinucleotide sequence C-G is methylated. Most methylated sites are apparently placed at fixed locations in the genome and this methylation pattern is faithfully inherited from generation to generation1. Holliday and Pugh2 and Riggs3 have suggested that methyl moieties are inherited in a semi-conservative fashion during DNA replication, and this model has been confirmed by experiments in which methylated DNA was integrated into mouse L-cells following DNA-mediated gene transfer4–6. For this mechanism to operate, two basic requirements must be satisfied: (1) methyl moieties must be symmetrically placed on both strands of the DNA7,8 and (2) the cellular methylase should be specific for the hemi-methylated substrate present during DNA replication. Here we demonstrate conclusively that the preferred substrate in vitro for the mouse ascites DNA methylase is indeed hemi-methylated DNA. Furthermore, this enzyme seems to methylate exclusively cytosine residues located at the dinucleotide C-G
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Additional access options:
Similar content being viewed by others
References
- Razin, A. & Riggs, A. D. Science 210, 604–610 (1980).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Holliday, R. & Pugh, J. E. Science 187, 226–232 (1975).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Riggs, A. D. Cytogenet. Cell Genet. 14, 9–14 (1975).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Pollack, Y., Stein, R., Razin, A. & Cedar, H. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 6463–6467 (1980).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Stein, R., Gruenbaum, Y., Pollack, Y., Razin, A. & Cedar, H. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 61–65 (1982).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Wigler, M., Levy, D. & Perucho, M. Cell 24, 33–40 (1981).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Bird, A. P. J. molec. Biol. 118, 49–60 (1978).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Cedar, H., Solage, A., Glaser, G. & Razin, A. Nucleic Acids Res. 6, 2125–2132 (1979).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Adams, R. L. P., McKay, E. L., Craig, L. M. & Burdon, R. H. Biochem. biophys. Acta 561, 345–357 (1979).
CAS PubMed Google Scholar - Setlow, P. CRC Handb. Biochem. molec. Biol. 2, 312–318 (1976).
Google Scholar - Gruenbaum, Y., Stein, R., Cedar, H. & Razin, A. FEBS Lett. 142, 67–71 (1981).
Article Google Scholar - Gruenbaum, Y., Cedar, H. & Razin, A. Nucleic Acids Res. 9, 2509–2515 (1981).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Gruenbaum, Y., Naveh-Many, T., Cedar, H. & Razin, A. Nature 292, 860–862 (1981).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - van der Ploeg, L. H. T. & Flavell, R. A. Cell 19, 947–958 (1980).
Article CAS Google Scholar - van der Ploeg, L. H. T., Graften, J. & Flavell, R. A. Nucleic Acids Res. 8, 4563–4574 (1980).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Sneider, T. W. Nucleic Acids Res. 8, 3829–3840 (1980).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Sutler, D. & Doerfler, W. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77, 253–256 (1980).
Article ADS Google Scholar - Desrosiers, R. C., Mulder, C. & Fleckenstein, B. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 3839–3843 (1979).
Article ADS CAS Google Scholar - Waalwijk, C. & Flavell, R. A. Nucleic Acids Res. 5, 4631–4641 (1978).
Article CAS Google Scholar - Mandel, J. L. & Chambon, P. Nucleic Acids Res. 7, 2081–2090 (1979).
Article CAS Google Scholar
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
- Department of Cellular Biochemistry, The Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, 91010, Israel
Yosef Gruenbaum, Howard Cedar & Aharon Razin
Authors
- Yosef Gruenbaum
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar - Howard Cedar
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar - Aharon Razin
You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gruenbaum, Y., Cedar, H. & Razin, A. Substrate and sequence specificity of a eukaryotic DNA methylase.Nature 295, 620–622 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/295620a0
- Received: 06 October 1981
- Accepted: 06 January 1982
- Issue Date: 18 February 1982
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/295620a0