Demethylation

Demethylation is the chemical process resulting in the removal of a methyl group (CH3) from a molecule. A common way of demethylation is the replacement of a methyl group by a hydrogen atom, resulting in a net loss of one carbon and two hydrogen atoms. The counterpart of demethylation is methylation. In biochemical systems, the process of demethylation is catalyzed by demethylases. These enzymes oxidize N-methyl groups, which occur in histones and some forms of DNA: R2N-CH3 + O → R2N-H + CH2O One such oxidative enzyme family is the cytochrome P450. Alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent hydroxylases are active for demethylation of DNA, operating by a similar pathway. These reactions exploit the weak C-H bond adjacent to amines. In particular, 5-methylcytosines in DNA can be demethylated by TET enzymes as illustrated in the figure. TET enzymes are dioxygenases in the family of alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent hydroxylases. A TET enzyme is an alpha-ketoglutarate (α-KG) dependent dioxygenase that catalyses an oxidation reaction by incorporating a single oxygen atom from molecular oxygen (O2) into its substrate, 5-methylcytosine in DNA (5mC), to produce the product 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in DNA. This conversion is coupled with the oxidation of the co-substrate α-KG to succinate and carbon dioxide (see figure). The first step involves the binding of α-KG and 5-methylcytosine to the TET enzyme active site. The TET enzymes each harbor a core catalytic domain with a double-stranded β-helix fold that contains the crucial metal-binding residues found in the family of Fe(II)/α-KG- dependent oxygenases. α-KG coordinates as a bidentate ligand (connected at two points) to Fe(II) (see figure), while the 5mC is held by a noncovalent force in close proximity. The TET active site contains a highly conserved triad motif, in which the catalytically essential Fe(II) is held by two histidine residues and one aspartic acid residue (see figure). The triad binds to one face of the Fe center, leaving three labile sites available for binding α-KG and O2 (see figure).