Much has been learned since the early 1960s about histone post-translational modifications
(PTMs) and how they affect DNA-templated processes at the molecular level. This …

In 1925, 5-methylcytosine was first reported in bacteria. However, its biological importance
was not intuitive for several decades. After this initial lag, the ubiquitous presence of this …

Trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3) is associated with transcriptional start sites
and has been proposed to regulate transcription initiation,. However, redundant functions of …

Transcriptional regulation, which integrates chromatin accessibility, transcription factors and
epigenetic modifications, is crucial for establishing and maintaining cell identity. The …

Cells differentiate and progress through development guided by a dynamic chromatin
landscape that mediates gene expression programmes. During development, mammalian …

Epigenetic alternations concern heritable yet reversible changes in histone or DNA
modifications that regulate gene activity beyond the underlying sequence. Epigenetic …

DNA methylation is of paramount importance for mammalian embryonic development. DNA
methylation has numerous functions: it is implicated in the repression of transposons and …

Cell type-specific gene expression relies on transcription factors (TFs) binding DNA
sequence motifs embedded in chromatin. Understanding how motifs are accessed in …

Enzymes that catalyse CpG methylation in DNA, including the DNA methyltransferases 1
(DNMT1), 3A (DNMT3A) and 3B (DNMT3B), are indispensable for mammalian tissue …

The DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) family comprises a conserved set of DNA-modifying
enzymes that have a central role in epigenetic gene regulation. Recent studies have shown …