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CpG islands – ‘A rough guide’
Author(s) -
Illingworth Robert S.,
Bird Adrian P.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2009.04.012
Subject(s) - cpg site , dna methylation , biology , promoter , epigenetics of physical exercise , methylation , gene silencing , genomic imprinting , gene , genetics , differentially methylated regions , genome , microbiology and biotechnology , gene expression
Mammalian genomes are punctuated by DNA sequences containing an atypically high frequency of CpG sites termed CpG islands (CGIs). CGIs generally lack DNA methylation and associate with the majority of annotated gene promoters. Many studies, however, have identified examples of CGI methylation in malignant cells, leading to improper gene silencing. CGI methylation also occurs in normal tissues and is known to function in X‐inactivation and genomic imprinting. More recently, differential methylation has been shown between tissues, suggesting a potential role in transcriptional regulation during cell specification. Many of these tissue‐specific methylated CGIs localise to regions distal to promoters, the regulatory function of which remains to be determined.