The methylated component of the Neurospora crassa genome

Cytosine methylation is common, but not ubiquitous, in eukaryotes. Mammals and the fungus Neurospora crassa have about 2-3% of cytosines methylated. In mammals, methylation is almost exclusively in the under-represented CpG dinucleotides, and most CpGs are methylated whereas in Neurospora, methylation is not preferentially in CpG dinucleotides and the bulk of the genome is unmethylated. DNA methylation is essential in mammals but is dispensable in Neurospora, making this simple eukaryote a favoured organism in which to study methylation. Recent studies indicate that DNA methylation in Neurospora depends on one DNA methyltransferase, DIM-2 (ref. 6), directed by a histone H3 methyltransferase, DIM-5 (ref. 7), but little is known about its cellular and evolutionary functions. As only four methylated sequences have been reported previously in N. crassa, we used methyl-binding-domain agarose chromatography to isolate the methylated component of the genome. DNA sequence analysis shows that the methylated component of the genome consists almost exclusively of relics of transposons that were subject to repeat-induced point mutation--a genome defence system that mutates duplicated sequences.     

Recognition of hemi-methylated DNA by the SRA protein UHRF1 by a base-flipping mechanism

DNA methylation of CpG dinucleotides is an important epigenetic modification of mammalian genomes and is essential for the regulation of chromatin structure, of gene expression and of genome stability. Differences in DNA methylation patterns underlie a wide range of biological processes, such as genomic imprinting, inactivation of the X chromosome, embryogenesis, and carcinogenesis. Inheritance of the epigenetic methylation pattern is mediated by the enzyme DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1), which methylates newly synthesized CpG sequences during DNA replication, depending on the methylation status of the template strands. The protein UHRF1 (also known as Np95 and ICBP90) recognizes hemi-methylation sites via a SET and RING-associated (SRA) domain and directs Dnmt1 to these sites. Here we report the crystal structures of the SRA domain in free and hemi-methylated DNA-bound states. The SRA domain folds into a globular structure with a basic concave surface formed by highly conserved residues. Binding of DNA to the concave surface causes a loop and an amino-terminal tail of the SRA domain to fold into DNA interfaces at the major and minor grooves of the methylation site. In contrast to fully methylated CpG sites recognized by the methyl-CpG-binding domain, the methylcytosine base at the hemi-methylated site is flipped out of the DNA helix in the SRA-DNA complex and fits tightly into a protein pocket on the concave surface. The complex structure suggests that the successive flip out of the pre-existing methylated cytosine and the target cytosine to be methylated is associated with the coordinated transfer of the hemi-methylated CpG site from UHRF1 to Dnmt1.     

Predicted methylation landscape of all CpG islands on the human genome

CpG island methylation plays important role in various biological processes. To investigate methylation landscape of all CpG islands on the human genome, we develop a model for predicting the CpG island methylation status. This model outperforms other existing methods. We apply the model on the whole human genome and predict the landscape of DNA methylation of all CpG islands. Based on the methylation profile, we find that about 31% of CpG islands are methylation-prone and CpG islands located in promoter regions are seldom methylated. There is no significant difference in the CpG island methylation level between R and G bands among the chromosomes. The occupancy of RNA polymerase II is significantly higher in methylation-resistant promoter CpG islands, indicating that genes with such promoter CpG islands tend to be more active.     

高分辨熔解曲线法检测哈萨克族食管癌患者癌组织中FHIT、CDKN2A启动子区甲基化水平及临床意义

 建立高分辨熔解曲线法(HRM)定量检测哈萨克族食管癌患者癌组织中FHIT、CDKN2A甲基化水平,并分析甲基化水平与食管癌病理参数的相关性。选取30例食管癌癌患者癌组织及30例癌旁组织,提取DNA,进行甲基化修饰。将标准品DNA(甲基化DNA与非甲基化DNA相互的掺入)稀释成0,5%,25%,50%,75%,100%甲基化DNA,并进行重复性和灵敏性评价。应用HRM定量检测癌组织及癌旁组织甲基化水平,探讨FHIT、CDKN2A基因启动子区甲基化水平与食管癌发生发展的关系。100%,80%,50%,30%,10%,0甲基化标准品的高分辨率熔解曲线从右向左依次排列,待测基因在标准曲线上的位置即表示其甲基化程度。HRM最低检测限为1%,明显高于MSP结果最低检测限10%。在30例食管癌癌患者癌组织中,检测出存在FHIT甲基化的为36.7%。其中8例甲基化程度为0—5%,3例为5%—10%。CDKN2A甲基化的为100%,其中7例甲基化程度为0—5%,11例为5%—10%,12例为10%—25%。与正常组织比较,抑癌基因的甲基化与癌症的发生无明显相关性。进一步讨论甲基化与食管癌的病理级别以及甲基化与分化程度的关系,二者均无相关性。通过HRM技术成功建立了定量检测哈萨克族食管癌组织中FHIT、CDKN2A甲基化程度的方法,FHIT、CDKN2A基因启动子甲基化与哈萨克族食管癌的发生发展无明显相关性,但多个抑癌基因的甲基化有望成为其早期发生发展的分子指标。     

The SRA domain of UHRF1 flips 5-methylcytosine out of the DNA helix

Maintenance methylation of hemimethylated CpG dinucleotides at DNA replication forks is the key to faithful mitotic inheritance of genomic methylation patterns. UHRF1 (ubiquitin-like, containing PHD and RING finger domains 1) is required for maintenance methylation by interacting with DNA nucleotide methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), the maintenance methyltransferase, and with hemimethylated CpG, the substrate for DNMT1 (refs 1 and 2). Here we present the crystal structure of the SET and RING-associated (SRA) domain of mouse UHRF1 in complex with DNA containing a hemimethylated CpG site. The DNA is contacted in both the major and minor grooves by two loops that penetrate into the middle of the DNA helix. The 5-methylcytosine has flipped completely out of the DNA helix and is positioned in a binding pocket with planar stacking contacts, Watson-Crick polar hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions specific for 5-methylcytosine. Hence, UHRF1 contains a previously unknown DNA-binding module and is the first example of a non-enzymatic, sequence-specific DNA-binding protein domain to use the base flipping mechanism to interact with DNA.     

A Toll-like receptor recognizes bacterial DNA

DNA from bacteria has stimulatory effects on mammalian immune cells, which depend on the presence of unmethylated CpG dinucleotides in the bacterial DNA. In contrast, mammalian DNA has a low frequency of CpG dinucleotides, and these are mostly methylated; therefore, mammalian DNA does not have immuno-stimulatory activity. CpG DNA induces a strong T-helper-1-like inflammatory response. Accumulating evidence has revealed the therapeutic potential of CpG DNA as adjuvants for vaccination strategies for cancer, allergy and infectious diseases. Despite its promising clinical use, the molecular mechanism by which CpG DNA activates immune cells remains unclear. Here we show that cellular response to CpG DNA is mediated by a Toll-like receptor, TLR9. TLR9-deficient (TLR9-/-) mice did not show any response to CpG DNA, including proliferation of splenocytes, inflammatory cytokine production from macrophages and maturation of dendritic cells. TLR9-/- mice showed resistance to the lethal effect of CpG DNA without any elevation of serum pro-inflammatory cytokine levels. The in vivo CpG-DNA-mediated T-helper type-1 response was also abolished in TLR9-/- mice. Thus, vertebrate immune systems appear to have evolved a specific Toll-like receptor that distinguishes bacterial DNA from self-DNA.     

Demethylation of CpG islands in embryonic cells

DNA in differentiated somatic cells has a fixed pattern of methylation, which is faithfully copied after replication. By contrast, the methylation patterns of many tissue-specific and some housekeeping genes are altered during normal development. This modification of DNA methylation in the embryo has also been observed in transgenic mice and in transfection experiments. Here we report the fate in mice of an in vitro-methylated adenine phosphoribosyltransferase transgene. The entire 5' CpG island region became demethylated, whereas the 3' end of the gene remained modified and was even methylated de novo at additional sites. Transfection experiments in vitro show that the demethylation is rapid, is specific for embryonic cell-types and affects a variety of different CpG island sequences. This suggests that gene sequences can be recognized in the early embryo and imprinted with the correct methylation pattern through a combination of demethylation and de novo methylation.     

Structural basis for recognition of hemi-methylated DNA by the SRA domain of human UHRF1

Epigenetic inheritance in mammals is characterized by high-fidelity replication of CpG methylation patterns during development. UHRF1 (also known as ICBP90 in humans and Np95 in mouse) is an E3 ligase important for the maintenance of global and local DNA methylation in vivo. The preferential affinity of UHRF1 for hemi-methylated DNA over symmetrically methylated DNA by means of its SET and RING-associated (SRA) domain and its association with the maintenance DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) suggests a role in replication of the epigenetic code. Here we report the 1.7 A crystal structure of the apo SRA domain of human UHRF1 and a 2.2 A structure of its complex with hemi-methylated DNA, revealing a previously unknown reading mechanism for methylated CpG sites (mCpG). The SRA-DNA complex has several notable structural features including a binding pocket that accommodates the 5-methylcytosine that is flipped out of the duplex DNA. Two specialized loops reach through the resulting gap in the DNA from both the major and the minor grooves to read the other three bases of the CpG duplex. The major groove loop confers both specificity for the CpG dinucleotide and discrimination against methylation of deoxycytidine of the complementary strand. The structure, along with mutagenesis data, suggests how UHRF1 acts as a key factor for DNMT1 maintenance methylation through recognition of a fundamental unit of epigenetic inheritance, mCpG.     

Structure of Dnmt3a bound to Dnmt3L suggests a model for de novo DNA methylation

Genetic imprinting, found in flowering plants and placental mammals, uses DNA methylation to yield gene expression that is dependent on the parent of origin. DNA methyltransferase 3a (Dnmt3a) and its regulatory factor, DNA methyltransferase 3-like protein (Dnmt3L), are both required for the de novo DNA methylation of imprinted genes in mammalian germ cells. Dnmt3L interacts specifically with unmethylated lysine 4 of histone H3 through its amino-terminal PHD (plant homeodomain)-like domain. Here we show, with the use of crystallography, that the carboxy-terminal domain of human Dnmt3L interacts with the catalytic domain of Dnmt3a, demonstrating that Dnmt3L has dual functions of binding the unmethylated histone tail and activating DNA methyltransferase. The complexed C-terminal domains of Dnmt3a and Dnmt3L showed further dimerization through Dnmt3a-Dnmt3a interaction, forming a tetrameric complex with two active sites. Substitution of key non-catalytic residues at the Dnmt3a-Dnmt3L interface or the Dnmt3a-Dnmt3a interface eliminated enzymatic activity. Molecular modelling of a DNA-Dnmt3a dimer indicated that the two active sites are separated by about one DNA helical turn. The C-terminal domain of Dnmt3a oligomerizes on DNA to form a nucleoprotein filament. A periodicity in the activity of Dnmt3a on long DNA revealed a correlation of methylated CpG sites at distances of eight to ten base pairs, indicating that oligomerization leads Dnmt3a to methylate DNA in a periodic pattern. A similar periodicity is observed for the frequency of CpG sites in the differentially methylated regions of 12 maternally imprinted mouse genes. These results suggest a basis for the recognition and methylation of differentially methylated regions in imprinted genes, involving the detection of both nucleosome modification and CpG spacing.     

Clusters of CpG dinucleotides implicated by nuclease hypersensitivity as control elements of housekeeping genes

DNA sequences of the X-chromosome-linked hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) genes have revealed the presence of clusters of CpG dinucleotides, raising the possibility that such clusters are involved in the control of expression of these genes, which are expressed in all tissues. Although CpG clusters are not exclusive features of the X chromosome, the analysis of X-linked genes provides the means to determine whether CpG clusters are control elements; one of the two homologous X loci in female mammals is not expressed, so that active and inactive versions of the gene can be compared. In fact, it has been shown that these CpG clusters are undermethylated when the gene is active and extensively methylated when the gene is inactive. In addition to hypomethylation, chromatin hypersensitivity to endonuclease digestion is a known hallmark of regulatory sequences in eukaryotic genes. We report here that the CpG clusters of the active hprt and g6pd genes are not only undermethylated, but also hypersensitive to MspI, DNase I and S1 nuclease, further supporting the suggestion that they are involved in the control of expression of these genes.     

Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Using Methylation Specific-PCR

To find a more sensitive and earlier diagnostic marker for hepatocellular carcinoma, methylation-profils of CpG islands in the promoter of eleven genes in hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC） carcinoma and pericarcinoma tissues from ten patients were examined by using methylation-specific PCR （MSP） method. MSP was used to detect the methylation of p16, p53, Secreted frizzled-related protein 1 （SFRP 1） and SFRP2 promoters. Meanwhile, plasma alpha-fetoprotein （AFP） levels in 53 patients were also determined. The results showed that HCC was closely correlated to methylation in promoter of tumor-suppressing gene p16, p53, SFRP1 and SFRP2. The results suggest that methylation of SFRP2 promoter is possible a better marker for diagnosis of HCC than plasma Alpha-fetoprotein （AFP） levels. The false negative of SFRP1 and SFRP2 are perfectly complementary. If SFRP1 and SFRP2 were both considered as a complementary positive marker at the same time, the accurate rate for diagnosis of HCC is 100%.     

宫颈癌中CALCA基因甲基化与HPV16-E7致癌蛋白表达的依存关系

 选择HPV16 阳性宫颈癌细胞和RNAi 技术,研究CALCA 基因甲基化与HPV16-E7 致癌蛋白表达的依存关系。构建慢病毒siRNA 重组表达载体,建立稳定表达HPV16-E7-siRNA 的RNAi 细胞模型。以SiHa 细胞和RNAi 细胞模型的基因组DNA 为对象,选择CALCA 基因启动子区富含CpG 岛屿的目标片段,使用亚硫酸氢盐测序法（bisulfite sequencing PCR,BSP）筛查分析,研究RNAi 抑制HPV16-E 7 表达后,CALCA 基因甲基化状态的可逆性程度。选出CALCA 基因启动子区富含CpG 位点的目标片段,其大小为365 bp,含有19 个CpG 岛屿,发现其中13 个CpG 位点的胞嘧啶在SiHa 细胞基因组DNA 中发生了甲基化（13/19）,而在表达HPV16-E7-siRNA 的RNAi 细胞模型中,所有CpG 位点的甲基化已发生逆转（0/19 位点）。本研究从细胞水平证明了宫颈癌细胞内的CALCA 基因启动子高甲基化对HPV16-E7 致癌蛋白表达有依赖性,为进一步研究E7 蛋白的作用及致癌机制奠定了重要的物质基础。     

哈萨克族食管癌中Survivin基因启动子区CpG岛真核表达载体的构建

 食管癌的形成与多种基因的异常表达有关,哈萨克族食管癌的发病又有其独特的机制。克隆并研究早期相关基因的启动子区CpG岛可为进一步揭示其发病机制奠定基础。本研究构建Survivin基因启动子区CpG岛真核表达载体,探讨其甲基化在新疆哈萨克族食管癌中的作用。通过Primer 5.0设计软件设计引物,采用常规PCR法从新疆哈萨克族食管癌患者的基因组DNA中扩增出Survivin基因启动子区CpG岛,CpG岛与真核表达载体pCAT3 promoter经HindⅢ单酶切后,连接试剂盒将二者连接并转导入甲基化酶缺陷的大肠杆菌E. coli ER1793中扩增。DNA测序证明获得Survivin基因启动子区CpG岛,并成功克隆入真核表达载体pCAT3 promoter中。