MBD2 (human recombinant; methyl binding domain aa 150-220)

DNA methylation occurs mainly at the 5’-position of cytosine rings (5-methylcytosine (5mC)). The 5mC bases are found largely in genomic regions with a high frequency of cytosines and guanines, called CpG islands. Methyl-CpG binding domain 2 (MBD2) protein specifically binds to methylated promoters on CpG islands. The MBD protein family consists of five members: MeCP2, MBD1, MBD2, MBD3, and MBD4.{20692,20693,17996} The sequence similarity between the MBD proteins is limited to the MBD domains.{20691} MBD2 binding to 5mC facilitates the recruitment of chromatin remodeling and transcriptional repressor complexes, which results in a repressive chromatin state.{20694,20691} MBD2 has been implicated in breast cancer progression. Silencing of MBD2 protein expression was found to be sufficient to initiate and maintain tumor suppressor gene transcription.{19794}