In mammals, DNA methylation plays important roles in embryogenesis and terminal differentiation via regulation of the transcription-competent chromatin state. The methylation patterns are propagated to the next generation during replication by maintenance DNA methyltransferase, Dnmt1, in co-operation with Uhrf1. In the N-terminal regulatory region, Dnmt1 contains proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-binding and replication foci targeting sequence (RFTS) domains, which are thought to contribute to maintenance methylation during replication. To determine the contributions of the N-terminal regulatory domains to the DNA methylation during replication, Dnmt1 lacking the RFTS and/or PCNA-binding domains was ectopically expressed in embryonic stem cells, and then the effects were analyzed. Deletion of both the PCNA-binding and RFTS domains did not significantly affect the global DNA methylation level. However, replication-dependent DNA methylation of the differentially methylated regions of three imprinted genes, Kcnq1ot1/Lit1, Peg3, and Rasgrf1, was impaired in cells expressing the Dnmt1 with not the PCNA-binding domain alone but both the PCNA-binding and RFTS domains deleted. Even in the absence of Uhrf1, which is a prerequisite factor for maintenance DNA methylation, Dnmt1 with both the domains deleted apparently maintained the global DNA methylation level, whilst the wild type and the forms containing the RFTS domain could not perform global DNA methylation under the conditions used. This apparent maintenance of the global DNA methylation level by the Dnmt1 lacking the RFTS domain was dependent on its own DNA methylation activity as well as the presence of de novo-type DNA methyltransferases. We concluded that the RFTS domain, not the PCNA-binding domain, is solely responsible for the replication-coupled DNA methylation. Furthermore, the RFTS domain acts as a safety lock by protecting the genome from replication-independent DNA methylation.

DNA methylation is a crucial epigenetic mark for activity-dependent gene expression in neurons. Very little is known about how synaptic signals impact promoter methylation in neuronal nuclei. In this study we show that protein levels of the principal de novo DNA-methyltransferase in neurons, DNMT3A1, are tightly controlled by activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) containing the GluN2A subunit. Interestingly, synaptic NMDARs drive degradation of the methyltransferase in a neddylation-dependent manner. Inhibition of neddylation, the conjugation of the small ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8 to lysine residues, interrupts degradation of DNMT3A1. This results in deficits in promoter methylation of activity-dependent genes, as well as synaptic plasticity and memory formation. In turn, the underlying molecular pathway is triggered by the induction of synaptic plasticity and in response to object location learning. Collectively, the data show that plasticity-relevant signals from GluN2A-containing NMDARs control activity-dependent DNA-methylation involved in memory formation.

DNA methylation controls gene expression, and once established, DNA methylation patterns are faithfully copied during DNA replication by the maintenance DNA methyltransferase Dnmt1. In vivo, Dnmt1 interacts with Uhrf1, which recognizes hemimethylated CpGs. Recently, we reported that Uhrf1‐catalyzed K18‐ and K23‐ubiquitinated histone H3 binds to the N‐terminal region (the replication focus targeting sequence, RFTS) of Dnmt1 to stimulate its methyltransferase activity. However, it is not yet fully understood how ubiquitinated histone H3 stimulates Dnmt1 activity. Here, we show that monoubiquitinated histone H3 stimulates Dnmt1 activity toward DNA with multiple hemimethylated CpGs but not toward DNA with only a single hemimethylated CpG, suggesting an influence of ubiquitination on the processivity of Dnmt1. The Dnmt1 activity stimulated by monoubiquitinated histone H3 was additively enhanced by the Uhrf1 SRA domain, which also binds to RFTS. Thus, Dnmt1 activity is regulated by catalysis (ubiquitination)‐dependent and ‐independent functions of Uhrf1.

DNA methylation in promoter regions represses gene expression and is copied over mitotic divisions by Dnmt1. Dnmt1 activity is regulated by its replication foci targeting sequence (RFTS) domain which masks the catalytic pocket. It has been shown that Dnmt1 activity on unmethylated DNA is inhibited in nucleosome cores. In the present study, we aimed to assess the effect of nuclesome formation on maintenance methylation at single CpG resolution. We show that Dnmt1 fully methylates naked linker DNA in dinucleosomes, whereas maintenance methylation was repressed at all CpG sites in nucleosome core particles. Deletion of RFTS partly released obstruction of Dnmt1 activity in core particles. Histone H3 tail peptides inhibited Dnmt1 in an RFTS‐dependent manner and repression was modulated by acetylation or methylation. We propose a novel function of RFTS to regulate Dnmt1 activity in nucleosomes.

In vertebrates, DNA methylation plays an important role in the regulation of gene expression and embryogenesis. DNA methyltransferase, which catalyzes the introduction of a methyl group at the 5th position of cytosine in the CpG sequence, is highly accumulated in mouse oocytes and is excluded from nuclei [Carlson et al. (1992) Genes Dev. 6, 2536–2541]. In this study, we examined the expression level and localization of Xenopus DNA methyltransferase in oocytes during oogenesis. The DNA methyltransferase protein was detectable in stage III oocytes and increased thereafter, until the oocytes had matured. The rate of DNA methyltransferase synthesis rapidly increased after stage IV oocytes. DiflFerent from in mouse oocytes, DNA methyltransferase was equally distributed in the nuclear and post-nuclear fractions, in stage VI oocytes. DNA methyltransferase translocated into nuclei was uniformly localized in the nuclear matrix, and the accumulated DNA methyltransferase in stage VI nuclei had DNA methylation activity