Abstract
Nucleic acid methylations are important genetic and epigenetic biomarkers. The formation and removal of these markers is related to either methylation or demethylation. In this review, we focus on the demethylation or oxidative modification that is mediated by the 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG)/Fe(II)-dependent AlkB/TET family enzymes. In the catalytic process, most enzymes oxidize 2-OG to succinate, in the meantime oxidizing methyl to hydroxymethyl, leaving formaldehyde and generating demethylated base. The AlkB enzyme from Escherichia coli has nine human homologs (ALKBH1-8 and FTO) and the TET family includes three members, TET1 to 3. Among them, some enzymes have been carefully studied, but for certain enzymes, few studies have been carried out. This review focuses on the kinetic properties of those 2-OG/Fe(II)-dependent enzymes and their alkyl substrates. We also provide some discussions on the future directions of this field.