Abstract: Activation-induced deaminase (AID)/APOBEC-family cytosine deaminases, known to function in diverse cellular processes from antibody diversification to mRNA editing, have also been implicated in DNA demethylation, a major process for transcriptional activation. Although oxidation-dependent pathways for demethylation have been described, pathways involving deamination of either 5-methylcytosine (5mC) or 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) have emerged as alternatives. Here we address the biochemical plausibility of deamination-coupled demethylation. W...
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Topics: 
Biochemistry