In conjunction with histone modifications, DNA methylation plays critical roles in gene
silencing through chromatin remodeling. Changes in DNA methylation perturb neuronal
function, and mutations in a methyl-CpG–binding protein, MeCP2, are associated with Rett …

The mechanisms by which neural stem cells give rise to neurons, astrocytes, or
oligodendrocytes are beginning to be elucidated. However, it is not known how the
specification of one cell lineage results in the suppression of alternative fates. We find that in …

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor has been associated previously with the regulation of food
intake. To help elucidate the role of this neurotrophin in weight regulation, we have
generated conditional mutants in which brain-derived neurotrophic factor has been …

Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a are important DNA methyltransferases that are expressed in postmitotic
neurons, but their function in the CNS is unclear. We generated conditional mutant mice that
lack Dnmt1, Dnmt3a or both exclusively in forebrain excitatory neurons and found that only …

In the mammalian genome, DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism involving the
transfer of a methyl group onto the C5 position of the cytosine to form 5-methylcytosine. DNA
methylation regulates gene expression by recruiting proteins involved in gene repression or …

Mammalian pre-implantation development is a complex process involving dramatic changes
in the transcriptional architecture 1, 2, 3, 4. We report here a comprehensive analysis of
transcriptome dynamics from oocyte to morula in both human and mouse embryos, using …

We report here genome-wide mapping of DNA methylation patterns at proximal promoter
regions in mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells. Most methylated genes are differentiation
associated and repressed in mES cells. By contrast, the unmethylated gene set includes …

DNA methylation has critical roles in the nervous system and has been traditionally
considered to be restricted to CpG dinucleotides in metazoan genomes. Here we show that
the single base–resolution DNA methylome from adult mouse dentate neurons consists of …

DNA methylation is a major epigenetic factor that has been postulated to regulate cell
lineage differentiation. We report here that conditional gene deletion of the maintenance
DNA methyltransferase I (Dnmt1) in neural progenitor cells (NPCs) results in DNA …

DNA methyltransferase I (Dnmt1), the maintenance enzyme for DNA cytosine methylation, is
expressed at high levels in the CNS during embryogenesis and after birth. Because
embryos deficient for Dnmt1 die at gastrulation, the role of Dnmt1 in the development and …