Methylation of foreign DNA sequences in eukaryotic cells.

The herpesvirus thymidine kinase gene has been used to introduce foreign DNA sequences into mouse L cells by DNA-mediated gene transfer. These inserted genes were then assayed for methylation at the specific sequence C-C-G-G by using the restriction enzyme isoschizomers Hpa II and Msp I. Despite the fact that 70% of the cellular C-C-G-G sites are methylated, herpesvirus sequences, plasmid DNA, and growth hormone gene DNA were found to remain unmethylated in 90% of the clones that contain these genes. DNA that had been methylated in vitro with Hpa II methylase was also inserted into L cells. The presence of this modification in the vector DNA did not, however, guarantee that these sequences remained methylated in the recipient clones. Only 10% of all transformed clones were found to contain methylated C-C-G-G sequences in the vector DNA, and these modifications were stable for 25-50 generations. Hha I and Mbo I were used to probe for methyl groups at these restriction sites, but none of the inserted sequences acquired these modifications. These results are discussed in relation to various models put forth to explain the process of methylation in eukaryotic cells.