Abstract
DNA methylation in mammals is essential for numerous biological functions, such as ensuring chromosomal stability, genomic imprinting, and X-chromosome inactivation through transcriptional regulation. Gene knockout of DNA methyltransferases and demethylation enzymes has made significant contributions to analyzing the functions of DNA methylation in development. By applying epigenome editing, it is now possible to manipulate DNA methylation in specific genomic regions and to understand the functions of these modifications. In this review, we first describe recent DNA methylation editing technology. We then focused on changes in DNA methylation status during mammalian gametogenesis and preimplantation development, and have discussed the implications of applying this technology to early embryos.
Highlights
Cytosine methylation is a process in which methyl groups are added to the cytosine of CpG dinucleotides, forming 5-methylcytosine (5mC)
In zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) and transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN), DNA binding modules such as zinc finger (ZF) or transcription activator-like effector (TALE) are fused with Fok I DNA nuclease, which is activated by dimerization of another pair of Fok I fused with ZF or TALE
DNMT or TET1 are fused with DNA-binding modules such as zinc finger (ZF), transcription activator-like effector (TALE), or catalytically dead CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) nuclease for editing DNA methylation
Summary
Cytosine methylation is a process in which methyl groups are added to the cytosine of CpG dinucleotides, forming 5-methylcytosine (5mC). Conditional KO mice of Dnmt3a/3b were created These studies provided great insights into the regulation of genomic imprinting during germ cell formation, and the reprogramming of DNA methylation after fertilization [3,4,5,7,8]. From another point of view, Dnmt/Tet gene KO is a technique for analyzing the functions of DNMT/TET molecules, but is a method used for regulating genome-wide DNA methylation. We summarize recent efforts towards editing DNA methylation patterns in early embryos and discuss the significance of these techniques
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