Overview of methodology for studying DNA methylation: A review

Abstract

DNA methylation is the addition of a methyl group to the 5th carbon atom of cytosine in a CpG dinucleotide. It is a mechanism that causes a change in expression without altering the base sequence. It is associated with a wide range of biological processes, including deactivation of chromosome X, genomic imprinting, stem cell differentiation, gene expression control, and chromosomal stability. There are several methods available to determine the methylation status of DNA samples in the field of epigenetics. However, selecting the method that is best suited to answering a particular biological question still proves to be a difficult task. This review aims to provide biologists, with an outline of methods available, for the determination of DNA Methylation, principally those new to the field of epigenetics, with a modest procedure to help guide them in the selection of the most suitable assay to meet their research requirements, but with a particular focus on commercially available tools or other simple and straightforward explanations that have proven to be effective.