FIGURE 7.

Both wild-type and truncated R168X MeCP2 proteins bind preferentially to CG-methylated DNA relative to unmethylated DNA. Gel mobility shift experiments were performed with a radiolabeled, single-stranded DNA probe with a dslHairpin DNA sequence derived from bacteriophage N4 promoters (18). The inclusion of the dslHairpin sequence enabled the proper hybridization of the BDNF promoter sequence containing a single CG dinucleotide. The protein concentrations and the absence or presence of CG methylation are shown. The image is a continuous single exposure of a series of binding reactions that were performed in parallel with equivalent amounts of methylated or unmethylated probe DNA. Competitor DNA was not included in these experiments. The percent of the probe that is shifted in each lane is indicated beneath the autoradiogram.