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Review
. 2018 Jan;18(1):105-116.
doi: 10.1002/tcr.201700088. Epub 2017 Dec 18.

Recognition of Oxidized 5-Methylcytosine Derivatives in DNA by Natural and Engineered Protein Scaffolds

Álvaro Muñoz-López  1 , Daniel Summerer  1
Affiliations
Review

Recognition of Oxidized 5-Methylcytosine Derivatives in DNA by Natural and Engineered Protein Scaffolds

Álvaro Muñoz-López et al. Chem Rec. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

Methylation of genomic cytosine to 5-methylcytosine is a central regulatory element of mammalian gene expression with important roles in development and disease. 5-methylcytosine can be actively reversed to cytosine via oxidation to 5-hydroxymethyl-, 5-formyl-, and 5-carboxylcytosine by ten-eleven-translocation dioxygenases and subsequent base excision repair or replication-dependent dilution. Moreover, the oxidized 5-methylcytosine derivatives are potential epigenetic marks with unique biological roles. Key to a better understanding of these roles are insights into the interactions of the nucleobases with DNA-binding protein scaffolds: Natural scaffolds involved in transcription, 5-methylcytosine-reading and -editing as well as general chromatin organization can be selectively recruited or repulsed by oxidized 5-methylcytosines, forming the basis of their biological functions. Moreover, designer protein scaffolds engineered for the selective recognition of oxidized 5-methylcytosines are valuable tools to analyze their genomic levels and distribution. Here, we review recent structural and functional insights into the molecular recognition of oxidized 5-methylcytosine derivatives in DNA by selected protein scaffolds.

Keywords: DNA methylation; Epigenetics; Molecular Recognition; Protein-DNA Interactions; TET dioxygenase.

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