Novel methods for detecting hydroxymethylcytosine

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of detecting a hydroxymethyl (hm) cytosine (C) in a nucleic acid molecule preparation; comprising: (a) providing a single-stranded (ss) nucleic acid molecule; (b) synthesizing at least one copy of at least a portion of the complementary strand of said ss nucleic acid molecule thereby generating a double-stranded (ds) nucleic acid molecule, wherein said synthesis is carried out in the presence of hydroxymethylcytosine or analog thereof (e.g., protected hydroxyl group); and (c) reacting the product obtained in (b) (all or purified) with an endonuclease being capable of cleaving said ds nucleic acid molecule, wherein cleavage by said endonuclease requires a recognition site that contains hmC on opposite strands; and (d) analyzing the product obtained in step (c).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.