Description
Epigenetic activation or inactivation of genes plays a critical role in many important human diseases, especially in cancer. A major mechanism for epigenetic inactivation of the genes is methylation of CpG islands in genome DNA caused by DNA methyltransferases. Histone methyltransferases (HMTs) control or regulate DNA methylation through chromatin-dependent transcription repression or activation. HMTs transfer 1-3 methyl groups from S-adenosyl-L-methionine to the lysine and arginine residues of histone proteins. SET2 is a histone methyltransferase that catalyzes methylation of histone H3 at lysine 36 (H3-K36) in mammalian cells. H3-K36 di-methylation is associated with transcriptionally active genes. Increased H3-K36 methylation is also found to be linked to the Sotos syndrome and leukemia-associated protein NSD1 and the Huntington"s disease protein HYPB. The H3-K36 di-methylation can be changed by inhibition or activation of HMTs. Thus quantitative detection of di-methyl histone H3-K36 would provide useful information for better understanding epigenetic regulation of gene activation and for developing HMT-targeted drugs. The Di-Methyl Histone H3-K36 Quantification Kit (Colorimetric) provides a tool for measuring di-methylation of histone H3-K36