DNA-osmium complexes: recent developments in the operative chemical analysis of DNA epigenetic modifications

The development of a reaction for the detection of one epigenetic modification in a long DNA strand is a chemically and biologically challenging research subject. Herein, we report and discuss the formation of 5-methylcytosine-osmium complexes that are used as the basis for a bisulfite-free chemical assay for DNA methylation analysis. Osmium in the oxidized state reacts with C5-methylated pyrimidines in the presence of a bipyridine ligand to give a stable ternary complex. On the basis of this reaction, an adenine derivative with a tethered bipyridine moiety has been designed for sequence-specific osmium complex formation. Osmium complexation is then achieved by hybridization of a short DNA molecule containing this functional nucleotide to a target DNA sequence and results in the formation of a cross-linked structure. This novel concept of methylation-specific reaction, based on a straightforward chemical process, expands the range of methods available for the analysis of epigenetic modifications. Advantages of the described method include amplification-insensitive detection, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine complexation, and visualization through methylation-specific in situ hybridization.