Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.1.1.37 (DNA methyltransferase)
4,983 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We present a novel strategy with synthetic hemimethylated DNA substrates containing uracil for thymine and inosine for guanosine replacements and EcoRI DNA methyltransferase to characterize the importance of major groove hydrophobic groups to the sequence-specific modification of DNA. The bacterial Mtase uses S-adenosyl-L-methionine to methylate the double-stranded DNA site 5'GAATTC3' at the N6 position of the central adenosine of each strand. Uracil substitution in either strand at the outer thymine (5'GAATUC3') causes 2.2- and 1.7-fold improvements in specificity (kcat/KmDNA). The fact that the specificity constant for the substrate containing uracil in both strands is identical to the value expected for noninteracting substitutions suggests that no significant methyltransferase-DNA interactions are altered beyond the site of either substitution. Similar analysis of the internal thymine (5'GAAUTC3') also shows these methyl groups to make a negative contribution to specificity, although the observed nonadditivity with the doubly modified substrate clearly shows methyltransferase-DNA interactions beyond the site of substitution to be affected in this case. To further probe the effect of analogue incorporation on methyltransferase-DNA interactions beyond the site of substitution, the relatively "silent" and additive uracil changes (5'GAATUC3') were combined with inosine for guanosine substitutions (e.g., 5'IAATTC3') known to have significant negative effects on specificity. In contrast to the additivity observed with the outer thymines, these studies show significant changes in methyltransferase-DNA interactions caused by the removal of the thymine methyls. Our results implicate a complex and flexible methyltransferase-DNA interface in which subtle structural changes in the substrate are transmitted over the entire canonical site.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:EcoRI DNA methyltransferase-DNA interactions. 153 35

We have cloned the genes coding for the two subunits (HsdM and HsdS) of the type-I DNA methyltransferase (MTase), M.EcoR124, into the specially constructed expression vector, pJ119. These subunits have been synthesized together as an intact MTase. We have also cloned the individual subunit-encoding genes under the control of the T7 gene 10 promoter or the lacUV5 promoter. High levels of expression have been obtained in all cases. While HsdM was found to be soluble, HsdS was insoluble. However, in the presence of the co-produced HsdM subunit, HsdS was found in the soluble fraction as part of an active MTase. We have partially purified the cloned multi-subunit enzyme and shown that it is capable of DNA methylation both in vivo and in vitro.
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PMID:High-level expression of the cloned genes encoding the subunits of and intact DNA methyltransferase, M.EcoR124. 155 95

We have cloned and characterized 5'-flanking sequences of the DNA methyltransferase (MeTase) gene. DNA MeTase gene transcription is initiated at a few discrete sites: 343 and 90 base pairs upstream of the translation initiation site as determined by RNase protection and primer extension assays. The promoter sequences that regulate expression of DNA MeTase, as defined by chloramphenicol acetyltransferase assays, reside between position -171 and the transcription start site. The promoter of DNA MeTase does not contain TATAA or CAAT boxes and is unusual because it does not contain the CG-rich elements characteristic of TATAA-less housekeeping genes. The 5'-flanking region of DNA MeTase contains AP-1, AP-2 and glucocorticoid response elements, suggesting possible regulation by cellular signal transduction pathways. The base composition of the DNA MeTase promoter is markedly different from that of other housekeeping genes. Whereas most housekeeping genes are characterized by CG-rich areas in their 5'-flanking regions, the TG dinucleotide is over-represented in DNA MeTase 5'-flanking sequences, including a perfect tandem repeat of T/G between positions -685 and -650. DNA methylation patterns play an important role in the developmental regulation of gene expression in vertebrates. DNA MeTase activity is probably regulated to maintain this pattern of methylation. We suggest that the DNA MeTase promoter represents a new class of housekeeping gene promoters that was designed to ensure high fidelity regulation of gene expression.
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PMID:The mouse DNA methyltransferase 5'-region. A unique housekeeping gene promoter. 155 80

Genes located near telomeres in Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergo position-effect variegation; their transcription is subject to reversible but mitotically heritable repression. This position effect and the finding that telomeric DNA is late replicating suggest that yeast telomeres exist in a heterochromatin-like state. Mutations in genes that suppress the telomeric position effect suggest that a special chromatin structure exists near chromosomal termini. Thus transcriptional repression may be explained by the inability of DNA binding proteins to access the DNA near telomeres. To test this hypothesis, the Escherichia coli Dam DNA methyltransferase, which modifies the sequence GATC, was introduced into S. cerevisiae cells. DNA sequences near the telomere were highly refractive to Dam methylation but were modified when located at positions more internal on the chromosome. Telomeric sequences were accessible to methyltransferase activity in strains that contained a mutation that suppressed the telomeric position effect. These data support the model that sequence-specific DNA binding proteins are excluded from telomere-proximal sequences in vivo and show that expression of DNA methyltransferase activity may serve as a useful tool for mapping chromosomal structural domains in vivo.
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PMID:Telomere-proximal DNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is refractory to methyltransferase activity in vivo. 157 Mar 34

We have used a combination of techniques to identify a weak promoter located about 70 nucleotides before the start site of translation of the Escherichia coli dam gene which encodes a DNA methyltransferase. The promoter activity was identified by the use of lacZ fusions to fragments containing different lengths of upstream DNA. In vitro run-off transcription and primer extension determinations revealed transcription initiation sites at either 69 or 73 nucleotides prior to the ATG of the dam coding sequence. No ribosome binding sequence was present close to the ATG codon suggesting that the transcript may be inefficiently translated.
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PMID:Identification of a weak promoter for the dam gene of Escherichia coli. 158 60

O6-Methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase plays an important role in preventing tumor induction. To elucidate the significance of a highly conserved amino acid sequence of methyltransferase protein, amino acid substitutions were introduced by site-directed mutagenesis of cloned cDNA for human methyltransferase and the activity and stability of mutant forms of enzyme were examined. When cysteine-145, to which the methyl transfer occurs, was replaced by other amino acids, all of the mutants isolated showed the methyltransferase-negative phenotype. From one of the negative mutants, methyltransferase-positive revertants were isolated, all of which carried codons for cysteine. Thus the cysteine residue is essential for acceptance of the methyl group and cannot be replaced by other amino acids. Using this negative and positive selection procedure, analyses were extended to other residues near the acceptor site. At the histidine-146 site, four substitutions (phenylalanine, methionine, asparagine and glutamine) exhibited the positive phenotype but the levels of methyltransferase activity in these mutants were low. With valine-148 substitutions there were six types of positive revertants, among which mutants carrying isoleucine, cysteine and alanine showed significantly high levels of methyltransferase activity. Some mutant forms of cDNA were expressed in methyltransferase-deficient human cells, and the results obtained with Escherichia coli cells were confirmed.
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PMID:Specific amino acid sequences required for O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase activity: analyses of three residues at or near the methyl acceptor site. 158 96

We have cloned a series of overlapping cDNA clones encoding a 5194 bp transcript for human DNA methyltransferase (DNA MTase). This sequence potentially codes for a protein of 1495 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 169 kDa. The human DNA MTase cDNA has eighty percent homology at the nucleotide level, and the predicted protein has seventy-four percent identity at the amino acid level, to the DNA MTase cDNA cloned from mouse cells. Like the murine DNA MTase, the amino terminal two-thirds of the human protein contains a cysteine-rich region suggestive of a metal-binding domain. The carboxy terminal one-third of the protein shows considerable similarity to prokaryotic (cytosine-5)-methyltransferases. The arrangement of multiple motifs conserved in the prokaryotic genes is preserved in the human DNA MTase, including the relative position of a proline-cysteine dipeptide thought to be an essential catalytic site in all (cytosine-5)-methyltransferases. A single 5.2 kb transcript was detected in all human tissues tested, with the highest levels of expression observed in RNA from placenta, brain, heart and lung. DNA MTase cDNA clones were used to screen a chromosome 19 genomic cosmid library. The DNA MTase-positive cosmids which are estimated to span a genomic distance of 93 kb have been localized to 19p13.2-p13.3 by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Isolation of the cDNA for human DNA MTase will allow further study of the regulation of DNA MTase expression, and of the role of this enzyme in establishing DNA methylation patterns in both normal and neoplastic cells.
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PMID:Isolation and characterization of the cDNA encoding human DNA methyltransferase. 159 47

Gene targeting in embryonic stem (ES) cells has been used to mutate the murine DNA methyltransferase gene. ES cell lines homozygous for the mutation were generated by consecutive targeting of both wild-type alleles; the mutant cells were viable and showed no obvious abnormalities with respect to growth rate or morphology, and had only trace levels of DNA methyltransferase activity. A quantitative end-labeling assay showed that the level of m5C in the DNA of homozygous mutant cells was about one-third that of wild-type cells, and Southern blot analysis after cleavage of the DNA with a methylation-sensitive restriction endonuclease revealed substantial demethylation of endogenous retroviral DNA. The mutation was introduced into the germline of mice and found to cause a recessive lethal phenotype. Homozygous embryos were stunted, delayed in development, and did not survive past mid-gestation. The DNA of homozygous embryos showed a reduction of the level of m5C similar to that of homozygous ES cells. These results indicate that while a 3-fold reduction in levels of genomic m5C has no detectable effect on the viability or proliferation of ES cells in culture, a similar reduction of DNA methylation in embryos causes abnormal development and embryonic lethality.
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PMID:Targeted mutation of the DNA methyltransferase gene results in embryonic lethality. 160 15

To test the hypothesis that DNA methylation controls the state of differentiation of a mammalian cell, we transfected the stable mesenchymal line 10T1/2 with an expression vector encoding sequences from the DNA methyltransferase (DNA MeTase) cDNA in the antisense orientation. 10T1/2 cells transfected with the antisense construct (pZ alpha M), but not with the vector alone, exhibit morphological changes, convert into multinucleated tubular cells, and express the skeletal myosin heavy chain protein. The conversion to myogenic phenotype is a late event and is dependent on the number of replication events that the cell has undergone, suggesting that induction of myogenesis is a multistep process. Demethylation of sequences that are not involved in the myogenic process is detected at early passages, while demethylation and expression of the MyoD gene is a late event. This report establishes for the first time that demethylation is a very early event in commitment to myogenic differentiation, while demethylation and expression of MyoD is a late event. We suggest that other genes serve as the initial targets for demethylation and commitment of mesenchymal cells to myogenesis. The cell lines described in this report can serve as an important system for identifying these genes.
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PMID:Induction of myogenic differentiation by an expression vector encoding the DNA methyltransferase cDNA sequence in the antisense orientation. 161 83

Mammalian DNA (cytosine-5) methyltransferase contains a C-terminal domain that is closely related to bacterial cytosine-5 restriction methyltransferase. This methyltransferase domain is linked to a large N-terminal domain. It is shown here that the N-terminal domain contains a Zn binding site and that the N- and C-terminal domains can be separated by cleavage with trypsin or Staphylococcus aureus protease V8; the protease V8 cleavage site was determined by Edman degradation to lie 10 residues C-terminal of the run of alternating lysyl and glycyl residues which joins the two domains and six residues N-terminal of the first sequence motif conserved between the mammalian and bacterial cytosine methyltransferases. While the intact enzyme had little activity on unmethylated DNA substrates, cleavage between the domains caused a large stimulation of the initial velocity of methylation of unmethylated DNA without substantial change in the rate of methylation of hemimethylated DNA. These findings indicate that the N-terminal domain of DNA methyltransferase ensures the clonal propagation of methylation patterns through inhibition of the de novo activity of the C-terminal domain. Mammalian DNA methyltransferase is likely to have arisen via fusion of a prokaryotic-like restriction methyltransferase and an unrelated DNA binding protein. Stimulation of the de novo activity of DNA methyltransferase by proteolytic cleavage in vivo may contribute to the process of ectopic methylation observed in the DNA of aging animals, tumors and in lines of cultured cells.
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PMID:Activation of mammalian DNA methyltransferase by cleavage of a Zn binding regulatory domain. 162 23


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