DNA demethylation by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine is imprinted, targeted to euchromatin, and has limited transcriptional consequences.

ABSTRACT:

Background

DNA methylation can be abnormally regulated in human disease and associated with effects on gene transcription that appear to be causally related to pathogenesis. The potential to use pharmacological agents that reverse this dysregulation is therefore an attractive possibility. To test how 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-aza-CdR) influences the genome therapeutically, we exposed non-malignant cells in culture to the agent and used genome-wide assays to assess the cellular response.

Results

We found that cells allowed to recover from 5-aza-CdR treatment only partially recover DNA methylation levels, retaining an epigenetic 'imprint' of drug exposure. We show very limited transcriptional responses to demethylation of not only protein-coding genes but also loci-encoding no

SUBMITTER: Ramos MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4372267 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature