Nucleosome spacing regulates linker methylation by DNMT3A2/3B3 - PubMed
4 hours ago
- #DNA methylation
- #chromatin
- #nucleosome
- De novo CpG methylation (mCpG) is deposited by DNMT3A and DNMT3B, targeting DNA linkers between nucleosomes.
- Nucleosome spacing controls linker DNA methylation and H3K36me2 recognition by human DNMT3A2/3B3.
- Short linkers promote dinucleosome bridging, blocking access to linker DNA and suppressing methylation.
- Long linkers allow DNMT3A2/3B3 to engage each nucleosome separately and methylate linker DNA.
- DNMT3A2/3B3 positions PWWP domains to scan for H3K36me2, but recognition is blocked with short linkers.
- The findings explain how DNMT3 enzymes target linkers in cells and govern de novo methylation in chromatin.