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Updated: Mar 28, 2026

Continuous Fluorescence-Based Endonuclease-Coupled DNA Methylation Assay to Screen for DNA Methyltransferase Inhibitors
Published on: August 5, 2022
Increased DNA methylation of Dnmt3b targets impairs leukemogenesis
Isabell Schulze1, Christian Rohde1, Marina Scheller-Wendorff1
1Department of Hematology and Oncology, University of Halle, Halle, Germany;
Abstract:
The de novo DNA methyltransferases Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b are of crucial importance in hematopoietic stem cells. Dnmt3b has recently been shown to play a role in genic methylation. To investigate how Dnmt3b-mediated DNA methylation affects leukemogenesis, we analyzed leukemia development under conditions of high and physiological methylation levels in a tetracycline-inducible knock-in mouse model. High expression of Dnmt3b slowed leukemia development in serial transplantations and impaired leukemia stem cell (LSC) function. Forced Dnmt3b expression induced widespread DNA hypermethylation inMyc-Bcl2-induced leukemias, preferentially at gene bodies.MLL-AF9-induced leukemogenesis showed much less pronounced DNA hypermethylation upon Dnmt3b expression. Nonetheless, leukemogenesis was delayed in both models with a shared core set of DNA hypermethylated regions and suppression of stem cell-related genes. Acute myeloid leukemia patients with high expression of Dnmt3b target genes showed inferior survival. Together, these findings indicate a critical role for Dnmt3b-mediated DNA methylation in leukemia development and maintenance of LSC function.
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