Two-Step Recruitment of RNA-Directed DNA Methylation to Tandem Repeats (original) (raw)
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Revisiting RNA-directed DNA methylation
RNA Biology, 2013
R NA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) involves sequence-specific guiding of the de novo methylation machinery to complementary genomic DNA by RNA molecules. It is still elusive whether guide RNAs bind directly to DNA or to nascent transcripts produced from it. Even the nature of the guide RNAs is not elucidated. RNA interference (RNAi) studies provided a link between RNAi and RdDM indicating that small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) trigger and guide cytosine methylation. The "siRNA hypothesis" is generally accepted. However, recent data demonstrated that RdDM is not always associated with the accumulation of corresponding siRNAs. RdDM triggers may differ from guide RNAs and further studies are needed to clarify if guide RNAs are small or long RNAs, if they are single or double stranded and if they target DNA or nascent transcript.
Cooperativity between DNA Methyltransferases in the Maintenance Methylation of Repetitive Elements
Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2002
We used mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells with systematic gene knockouts for DNA methyltransferases to delineate the roles of DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) and Dnmt3a and -3b in maintaining methylation patterns in the mouse genome. Dnmt1 alone was able to maintain methylation of most CpG-poor regions analyzed. In contrast, both Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a and/or Dnmt3b were required for methylation of a select class of sequences which included abundant murine LINE-1 promoters. We used a novel hemimethylation assay to show that even in wild-type cells these sequences contain high levels of hemimethylated DNA, suggestive of poor maintenance methylation. We showed that Dnmt3a and/or -3b could restore methylation of these sequences to pretreatment levels following transient exposure of cells to 5-aza-CdR, whereas Dnmt1 by itself could not. We conclude that ongoing de novo methylation by Dnmt3a and/or Dnmt3b compensates for inefficient maintenance methylation by Dnmt1 of these endogenous repetitive...
Plant molecular biology, 2000
RNA-DNA interactions can serve as a signal that triggers de novo DNA methylation in plants. As yet, this RNA-directed DNA methylation mechanism merely targets transgenes, but it appears likely that methylation of some endogenous sequences is also directed by RNA. RNA-directed methylation of cytosine residues specifically occurs along the DNA regions that are complementary to the directing RNA pointing to the formation of a putative RNA-DNA duplex. Dense methylation patterns and the methylation of cytosine residues at symmetric and asymmetric sites are detectable on both DNA strands within these regions. Methylation progressively decreases in the sequences adjacent to the putative RNA-DNA duplex. The extreme sensitivity of RNA-directed DNA methylation was demonstrated by analysing a short 30 bp DNA region that was complementary to the targeting RNA. Association of RNA-directed DNA methylation with homology-dependent gene silencing indicated that the methylation-directing RNA molecule...
A simple method for estimating global DNA methylation using bisulfite PCR of repetitive DNA elements
Nucleic Acids Research, 2004
We report a method for studying global DNA methylation based on using bisul®te treatment of DNA and simultaneous PCR of multiple DNA repetitive elements, such as Alu elements and long interspersed nucleotide elements (LINE). The PCR product, which represents a pool of approximately 15 000 genomic loci, could be used for direct sequencing, selective restriction digestion or pyrosequencing, in order to quantitate DNA methylation. By restriction digestion or pyrosequencing, the assay was reproducible with a standard deviation of only 2% between assays. Using this method we found that almost two-thirds of the CpG methylation sites in Alu elements are mutated, but of the remaining methylation target sites, 87% were methylated. Due to the heavy methylation of repetitive elements, this assay was especially useful in detecting decreases in DNA methylation, and this assay was validated by examining cell lines treated with the methylation inhibitor 5-aza-2¢deoxycytidine (DAC), where we found a 1±16% decrease in Alu element and 18±60% LINE methylation within 3 days of treatment. This method can be used as a surrogate marker of genome-wide methylation changes. In addition, it is less labor intensive and requires less DNA than previous methods of assessing global DNA methylation.
Transient cyclical methylation of promoter DNA
Nature, 2008
Methylation of CpG dinucleotides is generally associated with epigenetic silencing of transcription and is maintained through cellular division 1-3 . Multiple CpG sequences are rare in mammalian genomes, but frequently occur at the transcriptional start site of active genes, with most clusters of CpGs being hypomethylated 4 . We reported previously that the proximal region of the trefoil factor 1 (TFF1, also known as pS2) and oestrogen receptor a (ERa) promoters could be partially methylated by treatment with deacetylase inhibitors 5 , suggesting the possibility of dynamic changes in DNA methylation. Here we show that cyclical methylation and demethylation of CpG dinucleotides, with a periodicity of around 100 min, is characteristic for five selected promoters, including the oestrogen (E2)-responsive pS2 gene, in human cells. When the pS2 gene is actively transcribed, DNA methylation occurs after the cyclical occupancy of ERa and RNA polymerase II (polII). Moreover, we report conditions that provoke methylation cycling of the pS2 promoter in cell lines in which pS2 expression is quiescent and the proximal promoter is methylated. This coincides with a low-level re-expression of ERa and of pS2 transcripts.
DNA Methylation - From Genomics to Technology
2012
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Analysis of repetitive element DNA methylation by MethyLight
Nucleic Acids Research, 2005
Repetitive elements represent a large portion of the human genome and contain much of the CpG methylation found in normal human postnatal somatic tissues. Loss of DNA methylation in these sequences might account for most of the global hypomethylation that characterizes a large percentage of human cancers that have been studied. There is widespread interest in correlating the genomic 5-methylcytosine content with clinical outcome, dietary history, lifestyle, etc. However, a high-throughput, accurate and easily accessible technique that can be applied even to paraffin-embedded tissue DNA is not yet available. Here, we report the development of quantitative MethyLight assays to determine the levels of methylated and unmethylated repeats, namely, Alu and LINE-1 sequences and the centromeric satellite alpha (Sata) and juxtacentromeric satellite 2 (Sat2) DNA sequences. Methylation levels of Alu, Sat2 and LINE-1 repeats were significantly associated with global DNA methylation, as measured by high performance liquid chromatography, and the combined measurements of Alu and Sat2 methylation were highly correlative with global DNA methylation measurements. These MethyLight assays rely only on real-time PCR and provide surrogate markers for global DNA methylation analysis. We also describe a novel design strategy for the development of methylation-independent MethyLight control reactions based on Alu sequences depleted of CpG dinucleotides by evolutionary deamination on one strand. We show that one such Alu-based reaction provides a greatly improved detection of DNA for normalization in MethyLight applications and is less susceptible to normalization errors caused by cancer-associated aneuploidy and copy number changes.