[DNA methylation and demethylation: current status and future perspective].

DNA methylation plays important roles in cell differentiation, embryonic development, host adaptations to environmental factors, and pathogenesis through regulation of gene transcription and imprinting, X-inactivation, and defense of foreign genetic material invasion, is currently one of the hottest research fields on epigenetics. In the past few years, a number of important findings on DNA methylation have been achieved. These findings include discovery of TETs-catalyzed cytosine hydroxymethylation and its functions in the early embryonic development; the relationship between active and passive DNA demethylation; establishment and maintenance of DNA methylation patterns and their associations with histone modifications, chromatin configuration, polycomb group proteins and non-coding RNA bindings. DNA methylation has become a new potential biomarker and therapy target.