Cross-Kingdom DNA Methylation Dynamics: Comparative Mechanisms of 5mC/6mA Regulation and Their Implications in Epigenetic Disorders
DNA methylation, a cornerstone of epigenetic regulation, governs critical biological processes including transcriptional modulation, genomic imprinting, and transposon suppression through chromatin architecture remodeling. Recent advances have revealed that aberrant methylation patterns—characterize...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Biology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/14/5/461 |
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| Summary: | DNA methylation, a cornerstone of epigenetic regulation, governs critical biological processes including transcriptional modulation, genomic imprinting, and transposon suppression through chromatin architecture remodeling. Recent advances have revealed that aberrant methylation patterns—characterized by spatial-temporal dysregulation and stochastic molecular noise—serve as key drivers of diverse pathological conditions, from oncogenesis to neurodegenerative disorders. However, the field faces dual challenges: (1) current understanding remains fragmented due to the inherent spatiotemporal heterogeneity of methylation landscapes across tissues and developmental stages, and (2) mechanistic insights into non-canonical methylation pathways (particularly 6mA) in non-mammalian systems are conspicuously underdeveloped. This review systematically synthesizes the evolutionary-conserved versus species-specific features of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and N6-methyladenine (6mA) regulatory networks across three biological kingdoms. Through comparative analysis of methylation/demethylation enzymatic cascades (DNMTs/TETs in mammals, CMTs/ROS1 in plants, and DIM-2/DNMTA in fungi), we propose a unified framework for targeting methylation-associated diseases through precision epigenome editing, while identifying critical knowledge gaps in fungal methylome engineering that demand urgent investigation. |
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| ISSN: | 2079-7737 |