Genome-wide analysis of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine distribution reveals its dual function in transcriptional regulation in mouse embryonic stem cells. Mus musculus

Recent studies have demonstrated that the Ten-eleven translocation (Tet) family proteins can enzymatically convert 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). While 5mC has been studied extensively, little is known about the distribution and function of 5hmC. Here we present a genome-wide profile of 5hmC in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. A combined analysis of global 5hmC distribution and gene expression profile in wild-type and Tet1-depleted ES cells revealed suggests that 5hmC is enriched at both gene bodies of actively transcribed genes and extended promoter regions of Polycomb-repressed developmental regulators. Thus, our study reveals the first genome-wide 5hmC distribution in pluripotent stem cells and supports its dual function in regulating gene expression. Overall design: Genomic DNA extracted from control (Con) or Tet1 knockdown (KD) mouse ES cells was immunoprecipitated with 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) 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 in IP/input experiments.