Human Gene Set: WEBER_METHYLATED_HCP_IN_SPERM_DN


Standard name WEBER_METHYLATED_HCP_IN_SPERM_DN
Systematic name M1808
Brief description Unmethylated germline-specific genes with high-CpG-density promoters (HCP) in sperm.
Full description or abstract To gain insight into the function of DNA methylation at cis-regulatory regions and its impact on gene expression, we measured methylation, RNA polymerase occupancy and histone modifications at 16,000 promoters in primary human somatic and germline cells. We find CpG-poor promoters hypermethylated in somatic cells, which does not preclude their activity. This methylation is present in male gametes and results in evolutionary loss of CpG dinucleotides, as measured by divergence between humans and primates. In contrast, strong CpG island promoters are mostly unmethylated, even when inactive. Weak CpG island promoters are distinct, as they are preferential targets for de novo methylation in somatic cells. Notably, most germline-specific genes are methylated in somatic cells, suggesting additional functional selection. These results show that promoter sequence and gene function are major predictors of promoter methylation states. Moreover, we observe that inactive unmethylated CpG island promoters show elevated levels of dimethylation of Lys4 of histone H3, suggesting that this chromatin mark may protect DNA from methylation.
Collection C2: Curated
      CGP: Chemical and Genetic Perturbations
Source publication Pubmed 17334365   Authors: Weber M,Hellmann I,Stadler MB,Ramos L,Pääbo S,Rebhan M,Schübeler D
Exact source Table 1S: HCP, 5mC (log2) in sperm < 0
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Source species Homo sapiens
Contributed by Jessica Robertson (MSigDB Team)
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Version history 3.0: First introduced

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