Taku Kamei

Sequence-selective osmium oxidation of DNA: efficient distinction between 5-methylcytosine and cytosine

5-Methylcytosine was distinguished from cytosine using the large difference of their osmium oxidation rates, and this reaction was applied to detection of the cytosine methylation status at a specific site of a long sequence using the formation of a bulge structure by hybridization with a guide DNA.

Development of fluorescence-labeling method for methylcytosine with metal complexation

We report a methylcytosine-selective fluorescence labeling. An amino-modified bipyridine was prepared and used as an osmium ligand for methylcytosine-selective oxidation. Different fluorophores were easily incorporated to the modified methylcytosine site through an amide formation of the ligand amino group after osmium complexation.