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Updated: Mar 2, 2026

Correlating Gene-specific DNA Methylation Changes with Expression and Transcriptional Activity of Astrocytic KCNJ10 Kir4.1
Published on: September 26, 2015
DNA methylation and transcription onset in the brain
Renaud Massart1,2, Matthew Suderman1,3,4, Valerie Mongrain5
1Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Aim:
The goal of this study was to test the state of methylation of transcription start positions in DNA that are actively involved in transcription.
Materials & Methods:
We used sequential ChIP-bisulfite-sequencing with an antibody to RNpolII-PS5 to map the state of methylation of actively transcribing transcription start sites (TSS).
Results:
TSS that RNApolII-PS5 physically bind to, are ubiquitously unmethylated. TSS that appear to be both heavily methylated and transcriptionally active are truly a mixture of unmethylated TSS with bound RNApolII-PS5 in some nuclei and unbound methylated TSS in other nuclei.
Conclusion:
TSS DNA methylation is universally inconsistent with transcription onset and could therefore serve as a digital count of the fraction of nuclei with methylation-silenced TSS.
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