Lineage-specific distribution of high levels of genomic 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in mammalian development.

ABSTRACT: Methylation of cytosine is a DNA modification associated with gene repression. Recently, a novel cytosine modification, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) has been discovered. Here we examine 5-hmC distribution during mammalian development and in cellular systems, and show that the developmental dynamics of 5-hmC are different from those of 5-methylcytosine (5-mC); in particular 5-hmC is enriched in embryonic contexts compared to adult tissues. A detectable 5-hmC signal appears in pre-implantation development starting at the zygote stage, where the paternal genome is subjected to a genome-wide hydroxylation of 5-mC, which precisely coincides with the loss of the 5-mC signal in the paternal pronucleus. Levels of 5-hmC are high in cells of the inner cell mass in blastocysts, and the modificatio

SUBMITTER: Ruzov A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3193467 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature