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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Oct 1.
Published in final edited form as: Cell Signal. 2015 Jun 26;27(10):2131–2136. doi: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2015.06.003

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

This schematic shows the link between DNA methylation and gene expression. The epigenetic mark 5-methylcytosine (5-mC), which is established by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), is generally associated with repression of gene transcription and has long been described as a stable and highly heritable mark. Recent findings suggest that oxidation of 5-mC to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) by ten-eleven translocase (TET) proteins may relieve the repressive effects of 5-mC. Additionally, TET binding may prevent access to DNMTs, further contributing to the maintenance of an unmethylated promoter.