Hairpin-bisulfite PCR: assessing epigenetic methylation patterns on complementary strands of individual DNA molecules.

ABSTRACT: Epigenetic inheritance, the transmission of gene expression states from parent to daughter cells, often involves methylation of DNA. In eukaryotes, cytosine methylation is a frequent component of epigenetic mechanisms. Failure to transmit faithfully a methylated or an unmethylated state of cytosine can lead to altered phenotypes in plants and animals. A central unresolved question in epigenetics concerns the mechanisms by which a locus maintains, or changes, its state of cytosine methylation. We developed "hairpin-bisulfite PCR" to analyze these mechanisms. This method reveals the extent of methylation symmetry between the complementary strands of individual DNA molecules. Using hairpin-bisulfite PCR, we determined the fidelity of methylation transmission in the CpG island of the FMR1 gene

SUBMITTER: Laird CD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC314163 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature