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Masahiko Shiraishi, Azumi Sekiguchi, Ying H. Chuu, Takao Sekiya
Tight Interaction between Densely Methylated DNA Fragments and the Methyl-CpG Binding Domain of the Rat MeCP2 Protein Attached to a Solid Support
In a previous report we have found that a number of short DNA fragments methylated at CpG sequences bound more tightly to a methyl-CpG binding column than DNA fragments having a larger number of methyl- CpG sequences. The column consists of a polypeptide comprising the DNA binding domain of the rat MeCP2 protein attached to a solid support. In the present study, we have investigated the features of short DNA fragments which bind tightly to a methyl-CpG binding column. Tight binding was observed when the DNA fragment had a high density of methyl-CpG sequences. Many of these fragments, derived from human genomic DNA, contained Alu repeated sequences supporting the previous observation that the highly-abundant Alu sequences are highly methylated. Our results suggest that methyl-CpG density is an important factor in the interaction between DNA fragments and the DNA binding domain of MeCP2 attached to a solid support.
Biological Chemistry, Walter de Gruyter
Print ISSN: 1431-6730
Volume: 380, 09/1999
Pages: 1127 - 1131