Paper of the week - Cooperative epigenetic effect of TETs and OGT
There have been a number of high profile profile articles in recent times discussing the function of TET proteins, mostly in the conversion of methylated cytosine (5mC) into hydroxymethylated cytosine (5hmC), the 5th base. Hydroxymethylcytosine is much rarer than methylcytosine and is thought to be an intermediate towards demethylation of cytosine, a mechanism which remains incompletely resolved. A paper last year showed that TET proteins also convert 5hmc to 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC), termed the 6th and 7th bases.
OGT on the other hand is a fairly unique protein because it is the only known known O-GlcNAc transferase in mammals. What is GlcNAc you say? It stands for N-acetylglucosamine, a hexosamine. There has been a series of papers (here, here, here) discussing OGT as a nutrient sensor, transferring GlcNAc during period of surplus nutrient supply. GlcNAc can be transferred to the same amino acids as phosphorylation, so there is a suggested crosstalk betwee…
OGT on the other hand is a fairly unique protein because it is the only known known O-GlcNAc transferase in mammals. What is GlcNAc you say? It stands for N-acetylglucosamine, a hexosamine. There has been a series of papers (here, here, here) discussing OGT as a nutrient sensor, transferring GlcNAc during period of surplus nutrient supply. GlcNAc can be transferred to the same amino acids as phosphorylation, so there is a suggested crosstalk betwee…