Sequence features accurately predict genome-wide MeCP2 binding in vivo.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27008915.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms11025 and PMC identifier 4820824.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is critical for proper brain development and expressed at near-histone levels in neurons, but the mechanism of its genomic localization remains poorly understood. Using high-resolution MeCP2-binding data, we show that DNA sequence features alone can predict binding with 88% accuracy. Integrating MeCP2 binding and DNA methylation in a probabilistic graphical model, we demonstrate that previously reported genome-wide association with methylation is in part due to MeCP2's affinity to GC-rich chromatin, a result replicated using published data. Furthermore, MeCP2 co-localizes with nucleosomes. Finally, MeCP2 binding downstream of promoters correlates with increased expression in Mecp2-deficient neurons.
Medical subject headings
- Chromatin
- DNA Methylation
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
- Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2
- Olfactory Mucosa