Rethinking How DNA Methylation Patterns Are Maintained

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Genet

Specialty Genetics

Date 2009 Oct 1

PMID 19789556

Citations 347

Authors

Peter A Jones

Gangning Liang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

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.

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