This track displays
Methylation Interference
data for the NHGRI ENCODE target regions. Methylation
interference identifies guanines and adenines in the DNA binding site
that, when methylated, interfere with binding of the protein. a single
end-labeled DNA probe that is methylated at an average of one site per
molecule of probe. The labeled probe is a substrate for a
protein-binding reaction. DNA-protein complexes are separated from the
free probe by the mobility shift DNA-binding assay. A DNA probe that
is methylated at a position which interferes with binding will not be
retarded in this assay. Therefore, the specific DNA-protein complex is
depleted for DNA that contains methyl groups on purines important for
binding. After gel purification, DNA is cleaved with
piperidine. Finally, these fragments are electrophoresed on
polyacrylamide sequencing gels and autoradiographed. Guanines and
adenines that interfere with binding are revealed by their absence in
the retarded complex relative to a lane containing piperidine-cleaved
free probe. This procedure offers a rapid and highly analytical means
of characterizing DNA-protein interactions.
The long-term goal of the NHGRI ENCODE Project (ENCyclopedia of DNA Elements) is to identify all functional elements in the human genome sequence to facilitate a better understanding of human biology and disease.
During the pilot phase, 44 regions comprising 30 Mb -- approximately 1% of the human genome -- have been selected for intensive study to identify, locate and analyze functional elements within the regions. These targets are being studied by a diverse public research consortium to test and evaluate the efficacy of various methods, technologies, and strategies for locating genomic features. The outcome of this initial phase will form the basis for a larger-scale effort to analyze the entire human genome.
The ENCODE Project: Target Selection Process provides a description of how the initial target regions were selected.
To open a UCSC Genome Browser with a menu for selecting ENCODE regions, use ENCODE Regions in the UCSC Browser .