Antibody-Based Detection of Global Nuclear DNA Methylation in Cells, Tissue Sections, and Mammalian Embryos.

Immunostaining is widely used in cell biology for the in situ detection of proteins in fixed cells. The method is based on the specificity of antibodies for recognizing and binding to a selected target, combined with immunolabeling techniques for microscopic imaging. Antibodies with high specificities for modified nucleotides have also been widely developed, and among those, antibodies that recognize modified cytosine: 5-methylcytosine (5mC), and more recently, its derivates 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC).