3PT6 - DNMT1 the maintenance methylation protein

DNMT1 is a DNA methylation protein which exhibits a preference for hemimethylated CpG sites. DNA methylation is an important driver of epigenetic changes in a cell. Some DNA methylation proteins are de novo methylators, which methylate previously unmethylated sites while others are maintenance methylators, which maintain previous methylation patterns and so methylate hemimethylated DNA - particularly after mitosis. DNMT1 is an important mouse maintenance methylation protein, with many structural similarities to other de novo methyl transferases. This presentation gives an overview of many of the significant components of DNMT1, with some focus on the components which grant it a specificity for hemimethylated DNA, and allow it to fufil its role as a maintenance methylator. References: pdb file: https://www.rcsb.org/structure/3PT6 structural overview: doi 10.1126/science.1195380