Molecular mechanism of active demethylation (A04)

• Subject Area: Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 325871075

Since 2009 three new DNA bases (5-hydroxymethyl-, 5-formyl-, and 5-carboxy-cytidine, hmdC, fdC and cadC) were discovered that are present in the DNA isolated from stem cells and neurons. We believe that fdC and cadC undergo deformylation and decarboxylation reactions to establish a new, long search for, pathway to active demethylation. In this project, we plan to gain direct in vivo evidence for the existence of the putative decarboxylation reaction and we plan to make the first steps towards identifying the decarboxylating entity in stem cells. In the second part of the project, we plan to develop new, robust sequencing methods that will allow us to determine the positions of hmdC and fdC in the genome.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1309: Chemical Biology of Epigenetic Modifications
• Applicant Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Thomas Carell