TRDMT1 explained

tRNA (cytosine-5-)-methyltransferase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the TRDMT1 gene.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

CpG methylation is an epigenetic modification that is important for embryonic development, imprinting, and X-chromosome inactivation. Studies in mice have demonstrated that DNA methylation is required for mammalian development. This gene encodes a protein with similarity to DNA methyltransferases, but this protein does not display methyltransferase activity. The protein strongly binds DNA, suggesting that it may mark specific sequences in the genome. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms.^[5]

It has been shown that human DNMT2 does not methylate DNA but instead methylates cytosine 38 in the anticodon loop of aspartic acid transfer RNA (tRNA(Asp)).^[6]

Further reading

• Okano M, Xie S, Li E . Dnmt2 is not required for de novo and maintenance methylation of viral DNA in embryonic stem cells . Nucleic Acids Res. . 26 . 11 . 2536–40 . 1998 . 9592134 . 10.1093/nar/26.11.2536 . 147598 .
• Van den Wyngaert I, Sprengel J, Kass SU, Luyten WH . Cloning and analysis of a novel human putative DNA methyltransferase . FEBS Lett. . 426 . 2 . 283–9 . 1998 . 9599025 . 10.1016/S0014-5793(98)00362-7 . 7887099 . free .
• Dong A, Yoder JA, Zhang X, etal . Structure of human DNMT2, an enigmatic DNA methyltransferase homolog that displays denaturant-resistant binding to DNA . Nucleic Acids Res. . 29 . 2 . 439–48 . 2001 . 11139614 . 10.1093/nar/29.2.439 . 29660 .
• Franchina M, Hooper J, Kay PH . Five novel alternatively spliced transcripts of DNA (cytosine-5) methyltransferase 2 in human peripheral blood leukocytes . Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. . 33 . 11 . 1104–15 . 2001 . 11551826 . 10.1016/S1357-2725(01)00074-7 .
• Strausberg RL, Feingold EA, Grouse LH, etal . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . 2002PNAS...9916899M . free .
• Hermann A, Schmitt S, Jeltsch A . The human Dnmt2 has residual DNA-(cytosine-C5) methyltransferase activity . J. Biol. Chem. . 278 . 34 . 31717–21 . 2003 . 12794065 . 10.1074/jbc.M305448200 . free .
• Deloukas P, Earthrowl ME, Grafham DV, etal . The DNA sequence and comparative analysis of human chromosome 10 . Nature . 429 . 6990 . 375–81 . 2004 . 15164054 . 10.1038/nature02462 . 2004Natur.429..375D . free .
• Xiong Y, Dowdy SC, Xue A, etal . Opposite alterations of DNA methyltransferase gene expression in endometrioid and serous endometrial cancers . Gynecol. Oncol. . 96 . 3 . 601–9 . 2005 . 15721400 . 10.1016/j.ygyno.2004.11.047 .
• Stelzl U, Worm U, Lalowski M, etal . A human protein-protein interaction network: a resource for annotating the proteome . Cell . 122 . 6 . 957–68 . 2005 . 16169070 . 10.1016/j.cell.2005.08.029 . 11858/00-001M-0000-0010-8592-0 . 8235923 . free .
• Pang ST, Weng WH, Flores-Morales A, etal . Cytogenetic and expression profiles associated with transformation to androgen-resistant prostate cancer . Prostate . 66 . 2 . 157–72 . 2006 . 16173030 . 10.1002/pros.20328 . 26023143 .

Notes and References

1. Yoder JA, Bestor TH . A candidate mammalian DNA methyltransferase related to pmt1p of fission yeast . Hum Mol Genet . 7 . 2 . 279–84 . Mar 1998 . 9425235 . 10.1093/hmg/7.2.279 . free .
2. Vilain A, Apiou F, Dutrillaux B, Malfoy B . Assignment of candidate DNA methyltransferase gene (DNMT2) to human chromosome band 10p15.1 by in situ hybridization . Cytogenet Cell Genet . 82 . 1–2 . 120 . Nov 1998 . 9763678 . 10.1159/000015083 . 46803768 .
3. Goll MG, Kirpekar F, Maggert KA, Yoder JA, Hsieh CL, Zhang X, Golic KG, Jacobsen SE, Bestor TH . Methylation of tRNAAsp by the DNA methyltransferase homolog Dnmt2 . Science . 311 . 5759 . 395–8 . Jan 2006 . 16424344 . 10.1126/science.1120976 . 2006Sci...311..395G . 39089541 .
4. Web site: Entrez Gene: TRDMT1 tRNA aspartic acid methyltransferase 1.
5. Web site: Entrez Gene: TRDMT1 tRNA aspartic acid methyltransferase 1.
6. Goll MG, Kirpekar F, Maggert KA, etal . Methylation of tRNAAsp by the DNA methyltransferase homolog Dnmt2 . Science . 311 . 5759 . 395–8 . 2006 . 16424344 . 10.1126/science.1120976 . 2006Sci...311..395G . 39089541 .