Editing of DNA Methylation Using dCas9-Peptide Repeat and scFv-TET1 Catalytic Domain Fusions
Sumiyo Morita1, Takuro Horii1, Izuho Hatada2
1Biosignal Genome Resource Center, IMCR, Gunma University, Maebashi City, Gunma, Japan.
Abstract:
DNA methylation, one of the most studied epigenetic modifications, regulates many biological processes. Dysregulation of DNA methylation is implicated in the etiology of several diseases, such as cancer and imprinting diseases. Accordingly, technologies designed to manipulate DNA methylation at specific loci are very important, and many epigenome editing technologies have been developed, based on zinc finger proteins, TALEs, and CRISPR/dCas9 targeting. We describe a protocol to induce and assess DNA demethylation on a target gene. It is based on a modification of the dCas9-SunTag system for efficient, targeted demethylation at specific DNA loci. The original SunTag system consists of ten copies of the GCN4 peptide separated by 5-amino-acid linkers. To achieve efficient recruitment of an anti-GCN4 scFv fused to the ten-eleven (TET) 1 hydroxylase, an enzyme that demethylates DNA, we changed the linker length to 22 amino acids.
Related Concept Videos
Conservation of Protein Domains Over Different Proteins
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to...
RNA Editing
Nuclear Fusion
A helium nucleus has a mass that is 0.7% less than that of four hydrogen nuclei; this lost mass is converted into energy during the fusion. This reaction produces about...
Peptide Bonds
Turnover Number and Catalytic Efficiency
Chymotrypsin is a pancreatic enzyme that breaks down proteins during digestion....
Catalytically Perfect Enzymes
Most enzymes...


