Genome-wide location analysis of Dnmt3a-mediated epigenetic regulation in murine postnatal subventricular zone (SVZ) neural stem cells (NSCs) [NimbleGen]. Mus musculus

DNA methylation at proximal promoters facilitates lineage restriction by silencing cell-type specific genes. However, euchromatic DNA methylation frequently occurs in regions outside promoters. The functions of such non-proximal promoter DNA methylation are unclear. Here we show that the de novo DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3a is expressed in postnatal neural stem cells (NSCs) and is required for neurogenesis. Genome-wide analysis of postnatal NSCs indicates that Dnmt3a occupies and methylates intergenic regions and gene bodies flanking proximal promoters of a large cohort of transcriptionally permissive genes, many of which encode regulators of neurogenesis. Surprisingly, Dnmt3a-dependent non-proximal promoter methylation promotes expression of these neurogenic genes by functionally antagonizing Polycomb repression. Thus, non-promoter DNA methylation by Dnmt3a may be utilized for maintaining active chromatin states of genes critical for development. Overall design: Chromatin extracted from wild-type (WT) or Dnmt3a-null (KO) SVZ NSCs was immunoprecipitated with indicated antibodies and analyzed by NimbleGen 2.1M mouse whole genome tiling microarrays (a 4-array set covering the entired non-repetitive portion of mouse genome). Whole cell extract (WCE) was used as input controls for IP/WCe experiments. For IP/IP experiments, immunoprecipitated DNA from WT and KO NSCs was directly compared on the same microarrays. For identifying Dnmt3a-dependent DNA methylation at a genome-wide scale, a dye-swap design was employed for comparing DNA methylation levels between WT and KO SVZ NSCs.