Formaldehyde regulates enzymes involved in epigenetic methylation of DNA (IMAGE)

University of California - Berkeley

Formaldehyde regulates enzymes involved in epigenetic methylation of DNA

Caption

In the body, the small molecule formaldehyde (upper left in box) inhibits an enzyme (violet) that makes methyl groups (red) that are added to DNA. This interferes with methylation, an important epigenetic process for regulating genes, and may account for the fact that environmental formaldehyde is a toxic carcinogen.

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Vanha Pham/UC Berkeley

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