Abstract
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation is an essential epigenetic modification that plays a central role in gene regulation and development. In vertebrates, it occurs in a cell-type-specific pattern mainly at CG sites, which cycle between the fully methylated and hemimethylated state during DNA replication and maintenance methylation. During development, DNA methylation is erased and subsequently reset by de novo DNA methylation. In human cells, three DNA nucleotide methyltransferases (Dnmt1, Dnmt3a, and Dnmt3b) are responsible for establishing and maintaining DNA methylation. In this article, the catalytic properties of these enzymes, their allosteric regulation, and the mechanisms of their targeting to appropriate genomic sites are described.
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