Hydroxymethylated DNA Immunoprecipitation (hMeDIP) Kit

DNA methylation is a covalent modification of the cytosine ring at the 5' position, resulting in 5-methylcytosine (5-mC). In somatic cells, 5-mC is found almost exclusively in the context of paired symmetrical methylation of the dinucleotide CpG. The biological important of 5-mC as a major epigenetic modification in phenotype and gene expression has been recognized widely. Quite recently, a novel modified nucleotide, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC), has been detected to be abundant in mouse brain and embryonic stem cells. It is a hydroxylated and methylated form of cytosine. Although it is still uncertain its specific role in epigenetics, it is believed it plays a role in DNA demethylation, chromatin remodeling and gene expression regulation.

Hydroxymethylated DNA Immunoprecipitation (hMeDIP) Kit (ab117134) enables the user to enrich hydroxymethated DNA using an antibody specific to hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) to immunoprecipitate hydroxymethylated genomic DNA hMeDIP. The enriched hydroxymethylated fractions can be used in various downstream applications including PCR (hMeDIP-PCR) and microarrays (hMeDIP-chip) for investigating gene-specific hydroxymethylation in cells or tissues.