Editing DNA Methylation in the Mammalian Genome
Author(s)
Liu, X. Shawn; Wu, Hao; Ji, Xiong; Stelzer, Yonatan; Czauderna, Szymon; Shu, Jian; Dadon, Daniel Benjamin; Jaenisch, Rudolf; Wu, Xuebing, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Young, Richard A.; ... Show more Show less
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Mammalian DNA methylation is a critical epigenetic mechanism orchestrating gene expression networks in many biological processes. However, investigation of the functions of specific methylation events remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate that fusion of Tet1 or Dnmt3a with a catalytically inactive Cas9 (dCas9) enables targeted DNA methylation editing. Targeting of the dCas9-Tet1 or -Dnmt3a fusion protein to methylated or unmethylated promoter sequences caused activation or silencing, respectively, of an endogenous reporter. Targeted demethylation of the BDNF promoter IV or the MyoD distal enhancer by dCas9-Tet1 induced BDNF expression in post-mitotic neurons or activated MyoD facilitating reprogramming of fibroblasts into myoblasts, respectively. Targeted de novo methylation of a CTCF loop anchor site by dCas9-Dnmt3a blocked CTCF binding and interfered with DNA looping, causing altered gene expression in the neighboring loop. Finally, we show that these tools can edit DNA methylation in mice, demonstrating their wide utility for functional studies of epigenetic regulation.
Date issued
2016-09Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of BiologyJournal
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier
Citation
Liu, X. Shawn et al. “Editing DNA Methylation in the Mammalian Genome.” Cell 167, 1 (September 2016): 233–247 © 2016 Elsevier Inc
Version: Final published version
ISSN
0092-8674
1097-4172