NDT Advance Access originally published online on February 22, 2005
Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 2005 20(5):868-869; doi:10.1093/ndt/gfh746
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Published by Oxford University Press [2005]
Personal Opinion
Methylation of CpG islands: potential relevance for hypertension and kidney diseases
Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Inselspital, University of Berne, Switzerland
Correspondence and offprint requests to: Felix J. Frey, MD, Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Inselspital, University of Berne, Freiburgstrasse 10, CH-3010 Berne, Switzerland. Email: felix.frey@insel.ch
| The first 10% of the full text of this article appears below. |
| DNA methylation |
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Methylation of DNA is an epigenetic process which modulates gene expression [1]. In the mammalian genome, methylation is almost exclusively observed at cytosines 5' to guanosines, i.e. in the CpG dinucleotides. Many of these CpG islands are associated with promoters [2,3]. Methylation of CpGs in the promoter region has the potential to silence gene expression. Mechanisms accounting for diminished or abrogated gene expression following CpG methylation comprise blocking of the binding of sequence-specific trans-activating proteins or binding of proteins that interfere with transcription [3,4
| Inhibition of DNA methyltransferase activity |
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| Examples of gene silencing by CpG methylation in the field of hypertension and nephrology |
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| Outlook |
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