CpG islands are GC rich areas of DNA that are commonly found in the promotor regions of genes. Among other things, they have been found to have a role in chromatin remodelling (1). Specifically, unmethylated CpG motifs can recruit the SETD1 protein complex, which catalyses the trimethylation of H3K4 (1) - a modification associated with gene activation. One subunit of SETD1 is the CFP1 protein, which guides and binds the complex to unmethylated CpG motifs. The binding is performed by the CXXC domain of CFP1 (1). This model shows the CXXC domain bound to a CpG motif. The annotations show the structure of the molecule and the specific features that allow it to perform its function. Understanding the function of CXXC, and SETD1 as a whole, may be valuable information for medical research as disrupted chromatin regulation processes have been implicated in causing cancer (2).
- Doi:10.1038/ncomms1237
- Doi:10.1038/s41556-018-0258-1
PDB: 3QMB. Structural information from reference 1.
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