In 1925, 5-methylcytosine was first reported in bacteria. However, its biological importance
was not intuitive for several decades. After this initial lag, the ubiquitous presence of this …

DNA methylation is of paramount importance for mammalian embryonic development. DNA
methylation has numerous functions: it is implicated in the repression of transposons and …

Retrotransposons have generated about 40% of the human genome. This review examines
the strategies the cell has evolved to coexist with these genomic “parasites”, focussing on …

Research efforts during the past decades have provided intriguing evidence suggesting that
stressful experiences during pregnancy exert long-term consequences on the future mental …

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mark that is erased in the early embryo and then re-
established at the time of implantation. In this Review, dynamics of DNA methylation during …

The establishment of DNA methylation patterns requires de novo methylation that occurs
predominantly during early development and gametogenesis in mice. Here we demonstrate …

DNA hypomethylation was the initial epigenetic abnormality recognized in human tumors.
However, for several decades after its independent discovery by two laboratories in 1983, it …

Most of the 5-methylcytosine in mammalian DNA resides in transposons, which are
specialized intragenomic parasites that represent at least 35% of the genome. Transposon …

DNA methylation represents a form of genome annotation that mediates gene repression by
serving as a maintainable mark that can be used to reconstruct silent chromatin following …

A large body of evidence demonstrates that DNA methylation plays a role in gene regulation
in animal cells. Not only is there a correlation between gene transcription and …