A SILAC-based screen for Methyl-CpG binding proteins identifies RBP-J as a DNA methylation and sequence-specific binding protein

DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that plays a crucial role in a variety of biological processes. Methylated DNA is specifically bound by Methyl-CpG Binding Proteins (MBPs). Three different types of MBPs have been identified so far: the Methyl-CpG Binding Domain (MBD) family proteins, three BTB/POZ-Zn-finger proteins, and UHRF1. Most of the known MBPs have been identified via homology with the MBD and Zn-finger domains as present in MeCP2 and Kaiso, respectively. It is conceivable that other proteins are capable of recognizing methylated DNA. Methodology/principal findings: For the

The here described SILAC/methyl-CpG pull-down constitutes a new approach to identify potential novel DNAme readers and will advance unraveling of the complete methyl-DNA interactome.