Adaptor molecule of DNA methylation in IECs

We previously reported that gut microbiota induce de novo DNA methylation of the TLR4 gene in intestinal epithelial cells. Since DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) 3 mediates the transfer of methyl groups to any gene undergoing de novo methylation, the question of how gut microbiota induce the recruitment of DNMT3 to specific genes, including TLR4, remains to be addressed. In this study, we tried to identify an adaptor molecule that recruits DNMT3b to the TLR4 gene by comparing expression of DNMT3-interacting proteins between IEC lines with hypermethylated and hypomethylated TLR4 gene.