A methylated nucleotide base found in eukaryotic DNA. In ANIMALS, the DNA METHYLATION of CYTOSINE to form 5-methylcytosine is found primarily in the palindromic sequence CpG. In PLANTS, the methylated sequence is CpNpGp, where N can be any base.

A pyrimidine base that is a fundamental unit of nucleic acids.

The removal of an amino group (NH2) from a chemical compound.

Addition of methyl groups to DNA. DNA methyltransferases (DNA methylases) perform this reaction using S-ADENOSYLMETHIONINE as the methyl group donor.

An enzyme that removes THYMINE and URACIL bases mispaired with GUANINE through hydrolysis of their N-glycosidic bond. These mispaired nucleotides generally occur through the hydrolytic DEAMINATION of 5-METHYLCYTOSINE to thymine.

Addition of methyl groups. In histo-chemistry methylation is used to esterify carboxyl groups and remove sulfate groups by treating tissue sections with hot methanol in the presence of hydrochloric acid. (From Stedman, 25th ed)

An enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of a methyl group from S-ADENOSYLMETHIONINE to the 5-position of CYTOSINE residues in DNA.

Inorganic salts of sulfurous acid.

Thymine is a pyrimidine nucleobase, one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of DNA (the other three being adenine, guanine, and cytosine), where it forms a base pair with adenine.

A deoxyribonucleotide polymer that is the primary genetic material of all cells. Eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms normally contain DNA in a double-stranded state, yet several important biological processes transiently involve single-stranded regions. DNA, which consists of a polysugar-phosphate backbone possessing projections of purines (adenine and guanine) and pyrimidines (thymine and cytosine), forms a double helix that is held together by hydrogen bonds between these purines and pyrimidines (adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine).

Osmium. A very hard, gray, toxic, and nearly infusible metal element, atomic number 76, atomic weight 190.2, symbol Os. (From Dorland, 28th ed)

A family of DNA repair enzymes that recognize damaged nucleotide bases and remove them by hydrolyzing the N-glycosidic bond that attaches them to the sugar backbone of the DNA molecule. The process called BASE EXCISION REPAIR can be completed by a DNA-(APURINIC OR APYRIMIDINIC SITE) LYASE which excises the remaining RIBOSE sugar from the DNA.

Methylases that are specific for CYTOSINE residues found on DNA.

5-Hydroxymethyl-6-methyl- 2,4-(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione. Uracil derivative used in combination with toxic antibiotics to lessen their toxicity; also to stimulate leukopoiesis and immunity. Synonyms: pentoksil; hydroxymethylmethyluracil.

Non-heme iron-containing enzymes that incorporate two atoms of OXYGEN into the substrate. They are important in biosynthesis of FLAVONOIDS; GIBBERELLINS; and HYOSCYAMINE; and for degradation of AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS.

A purine base and a fundamental unit of ADENINE NUCLEOTIDES.

A class of enzymes involved in the hydrolysis of the N-glycosidic bond of nitrogen-linked sugars.

Areas of increased density of the dinucleotide sequence cytosine--phosphate diester--guanine. They form stretches of DNA several hundred to several thousand base pairs long. In humans there are about 45,000 CpG islands, mostly found at the 5' ends of genes. They are unmethylated except for those on the inactive X chromosome and some associated with imprinted genes.

The sequence of PURINES and PYRIMIDINES in nucleic acids and polynucleotides. It is also called nucleotide sequence.

Enzymes that are part of the restriction-modification systems. They catalyze the endonucleolytic cleavage of DNA sequences which lack the species-specific methylation pattern in the host cell's DNA. Cleavage yields random or specific double-stranded fragments with terminal 5'-phosphates. The function of restriction enzymes is to destroy any foreign DNA that invades the host cell. Most have been studied in bacterial systems, but a few have been found in eukaryotic organisms. They are also used as tools for the systematic dissection and mapping of chromosomes, in the determination of base sequences of DNAs, and have made it possible to splice and recombine genes from one organism into the genome of another. EC 3.21.1.

A group of compounds which consist of a nucleotide molecule to which an additional nucleoside is attached through the phosphate molecule(s). The nucleotide can contain any number of phosphates.

A group of deoxyribonucleotides (up to 12) in which the phosphate residues of each deoxyribonucleotide act as bridges in forming diester linkages between the deoxyribose moieties.

A genetic process by which the adult organism is realized via mechanisms that lead to the restriction in the possible fates of cells, eventually leading to their differentiated state. Mechanisms involved cause heritable changes to cells without changes to DNA sequence such as DNA METHYLATION; HISTONE modification; DNA REPLICATION TIMING; NUCLEOSOME positioning; and heterochromatization which result in selective gene expression or repression.

Enzymes that are part of the restriction-modification systems. They are responsible for producing a species-characteristic methylation pattern, on either adenine or cytosine residues, in a specific short base sequence in the host cell's own DNA. This methylated sequence will occur many times in the host-cell DNA and remain intact for the lifetime of the cell. Any DNA from another species which gains entry into a living cell and lacks the characteristic methylation pattern will be recognized by the restriction endonucleases of similar specificity and destroyed by cleavage. Most have been studied in bacterial systems, but a few have been found in eukaryotic organisms.

A subclass of enzymes of the transferase class that catalyze the transfer of a methyl group from one compound to another. (Dorland, 28th ed) EC 2.1.1.

Small holes of nanometer dimensions in a membrane, that can be used as single molecule detectors. The pores can be biological or synthetic.

Disruption of the secondary structure of nucleic acids by heat, extreme pH or chemical treatment. Double strand DNA is "melted" by dissociation of the non-covalent hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions. Denatured DNA appears to be a single-stranded flexible structure. The effects of denaturation on RNA are similar though less pronounced and largely reversible.

Deoxycytidine (dihydrogen phosphate). A deoxycytosine nucleotide containing one phosphate group esterified to the deoxyribose moiety in the 2'-,3'- or 5- positions.

A pyrimidine analogue that inhibits DNA methyltransferase, impairing DNA methylation. It is also an antimetabolite of cytidine, incorporated primarily into RNA. Azacytidine has been used as an antineoplastic agent.

Uracil is a nitrogenous base, specifically a pyrimidine derivative, which constitutes one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of RNA (ribonucleic acid), pairing with adenine via hydrogen bonds during base-pairing. (25 words)

An enzyme which catalyzes an endonucleolytic cleavage near PYRIMIDINE DIMERS to produce a 5'-phosphate product. The enzyme acts on the damaged DNA strand, from the 5' side of the damaged site.

The systematic study of the global gene expression changes due to EPIGENETIC PROCESSES and not due to DNA base sequence changes.

A group of enzymes catalyzing the endonucleolytic cleavage of DNA. They include members of EC 3.1.21.-, EC 3.1.22.-, EC 3.1.23.- (DNA RESTRICTION ENZYMES), EC 3.1.24.- (DNA RESTRICTION ENZYMES), and EC 3.1.25.-.

The reconstruction of a continuous two-stranded DNA molecule without mismatch from a molecule which contained damaged regions. The major repair mechanisms are excision repair, in which defective regions in one strand are excised and resynthesized using the complementary base pairing information in the intact strand; photoreactivation repair, in which the lethal and mutagenic effects of ultraviolet light are eliminated; and post-replication repair, in which the primary lesions are not repaired, but the gaps in one daughter duplex are filled in by incorporation of portions of the other (undamaged) daughter duplex. Excision repair and post-replication repair are sometimes referred to as "dark repair" because they do not require light.

Guanine is a purine nucleobase, one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of DNA and RNA, involved in forming hydrogen bonds between complementary base pairs in double-stranded DNA molecules.

One of the Type II site-specific deoxyribonucleases (EC 3.1.21.4). It recognizes and cleaves the sequences C/CGG and GGC/C at the slash. HpaII is from Haemophilus parainfluenzae. Several isoschizomers have been identified. EC 3.1.21.-.

A characteristic feature of enzyme activity in relation to the kind of substrate on which the enzyme or catalytic molecule reacts.

A variant of ADENOMATOUS POLYPOSIS COLI caused by mutation in the APC gene (GENES, APC) on CHROMOSOME 5. It is characterized by not only the presence of multiple colonic polyposis but also extracolonic ADENOMATOUS POLYPS in the UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT; the EYE; the SKIN; the SKULL; and the FACIAL BONES; as well as malignancy in organs other than the GI tract.

The genetic complement of an organism, including all of its GENES, as represented in its DNA, or in some cases, its RNA.

A pyrimidine nucleoside that is composed of the base CYTOSINE linked to the five-carbon sugar D-RIBOSE.

The presence of an uncomplimentary base in double-stranded DNA caused by spontaneous deamination of cytosine or adenine, mismatching during homologous recombination, or errors in DNA replication. Multiple, sequential base pair mismatches lead to formation of heteroduplex DNA; (NUCLEIC ACID HETERODUPLEXES).

Chemical reactions effected by light.

A chemical reaction in which an electron is transferred from one molecule to another. The electron-donating molecule is the reducing agent or reductant; the electron-accepting molecule is the oxidizing agent or oxidant. Reducing and oxidizing agents function as conjugate reductant-oxidant pairs or redox pairs (Lehninger, Principles of Biochemistry, 1982, p471).

Proteins which bind to DNA. The family includes proteins which bind to both double- and single-stranded DNA and also includes specific DNA binding proteins in serum which can be used as markers for malignant diseases.

Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.

The fertilized OVUM resulting from the fusion of a male and a female gamete.

Polymers made up of a few (2-20) nucleotides. In molecular genetics, they refer to a short sequence synthesized to match a region where a mutation is known to occur, and then used as a probe (OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PROBES). (Dorland, 28th ed)