Published May 12, 2017 | Version v1
Journal article Open

MeCP2 recognizes cytosine methylated tri-nucleotide and di-nucleotide sequences to tune transcription in the mammalian brain

Description

Mutations in the gene encoding the methyl-CG binding protein MeCP2 cause several neurological disorders including Rett syndrome. The di-nucleotide methyl-CG (mCG) is the classical MeCP2 DNA recognition sequence, but additional methylated sequence targets have been reported. Here we show by in vitro and in vivo analyses that MeCP2 binding to non-CG methylated sites in brain is largely confined to the tri-nucleotide sequence mCAC. MeCP2 binding to chromosomal DNA in mouse brain is proportional to mCAC + mCG density and unexpectedly defines large genomic domains within which transcription is sensitive to MeCP2 occupancy. Our results suggest that MeCP2 integrates patterns of mCAC and mCG in the brain to restrain transcription of genes critical for neuronal function.

Data availability

All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. The next generation sequencing data are available on GEO (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/) under accession number GSE84671.

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journal.pgen.1006793.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1371/journal.pgen.1006793
Other
oai:uchicago.tind.io:6645

Funding

The Rett Syndrome Research Trust
Consortium Grant
Wellcome Trust
programme grant
Wellcome Trust
Centre Core Grant
European Research Council
MLCS 306999
Unknown funder
Marie Curie Postdoc fellowship
University of Vienna
Veterinary Medicine Postdoc program
National Cancer Institute
CA184097

UChicago Information

Division(s)
Physical Sciences Division
Department(s)
Chemistry
Center(s) or Institute(s)
Institute for Biophysical Dynamics