Peptide mapping of the murine DNA methyltransferase reveals a major phosphorylation site and the start of translation.

The murine DNA methyltransferase catalyzes the transfer of methyl groups from S-adenosylmethionine to cytosines within d(CpG) dinucleotides. The enzyme is necessary for normal embryonic development and is implicated in a number of important processes, including the control of gene expression and cancer. Metabolic labeling and high pressure liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) were performed on DNA methyltransferase purified from murine erythroleukemia cells. Serine 514 was identified as a major phosphorylation site that lies in a domain required for targeting of the enzyme to the replication foci. These results present a potential mechanism for the regulation of DNA methylation. HPLC-ESI-MS peptide mapping data demonstrated that the purified murine DNA methyltransferase protein contains the N-terminal regions predicted by the recently revised 5' gene sequences (Yoder, J. A., Yen, R.-W. C., Vertino, P. M., Bestor, T. H. , and Baylin, S. B. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 31092-31097). The evidence suggests a start of translation at the first predicted methionine, with no alternate translational start sites. Our peptide mapping results provide a more detailed structural characterization of the DNA methyltransferase that will facilitate future structure/function studies.