Ten-eleven translocation. Methyl oxidation is the first step in the removal of DNA methylation;
however, it is not rate limiting, and hmC is present at detectable levels in vivo. The prediction
that the Tet family of proteins serves to oxidize DNA came from their sequence homology to
parasitic proteins that produce hydroxymethyluracil (base J) (23, 24). There are three mammalian
Tet proteins, each containing a core catalytic region and DNA-binding CXXC domain, with the
exception of Tet2, in which the CXXC domain coding region is detached and inverted into the
separate CXXC4 gene (25). These iron-mediated dioxygenases use α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) to
oxidize mC to hmC by flipping the target mC out and into the active site (Figure 2) (26). The
complimentary cytosine of the CpG site is then detected by three aryl residues [Tyr, Tyr(Phe),
and Trp]. The exact mechanism by which hmC is then converted back into unalkylated cytosine
remains somewhat enigmatic, but there is building evidence that Tets can overoxidize hmC to
5-formylcytosine and even 5-carboxylcytosine, which may then be excised by thymine-DNA gly-
cosylase (15). In any event, hmC can be viewed as a meta-stable intermediate in the erasure of a
methyl mark that itself (hmC) may perform some regulatory effect.