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AAT Bioquest

Are there different forms of methylation?

Posted January 3, 2024


Answer

There are two main forms of methylation – electrophilic methylation and nucleophilic methylation. 

  1. In electrophilic methylations, electrophiles are the source of the methyl group that gets added to the lysine residues on the N-terminal tail of histone proteins. Diazomethane, iodomethane, dimethyl sulfate and dimethyl carbonate are common examples of electrophilic methylating agents
  2. Nucleophilic methylations occur when a nucleophilic agent is used for the transfer of a methyl group. Tetramethyltin, dimethyl zinc, methyllithium, and trimethyl aluminum are common examples of nucleophilic methylating agents.  
Additional resources

Principles of DNA methylation and their implications for biology and medicine

DNA Methylation

Helixyte™ Green ssDNA reagent