ABSTRACT
Contents 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 7 2.2 DNA methylation .................................................................................... 10
2.2.1 Mammalian DNA methyltransferases .................................... 10 2.2.2 Dnmt3L is a regulatory factor for de novo DNA
methylation .................................................................................. 10 2.2.3 The dimeric Dnmt3a suggests a model for de novo
DNA methylation involving detection of CpG spacing ........ 12 2.2.4 Dnmt3L connects unmethylated lysine 4 of histone H3
to de novo DNA methylation .................................................... 14 2.3 Histone lysine methylation, recognition, and demethylation .......... 15
2.3.1 SET domain-containing histone lysine methyltransferases (HKMTs) .................................................... 15
2.3.2 Protein domains (chromo, tudor, PHD, and ankyrin repeats) that recognize lysine in four different methylation states ....................................................................... 17
2.3.3 Histone lysine demethylation by oxidation or hydroxylation .............................................................................. 19
2.4 Histone arginine methylation ............................................................... 23 2.5 Summary .................................................................................................. 27 References ......................................................................................................... 28
2.1 Introduction With the completion of the human genome sequence and the genomes of other model organisms used in basic and translational research, the future focuses on understanding functional roles for gene products (proteins) in cellular physiology and pathology, in particular oncogenesis, metastasis, and biomarkers. Proteomics, epigenetics, and transcriptional regulation dominate biomedical research headlines today and will continue to do so in coming decades.
