Methylation across the central dogma in health and diseases: new therapeutic strategies

The proper transfer of genetic information from DNA to RNA to protein is essential for cell-fate control, development, and health. Methylation of DNA, RNAs, histones, and non-histone proteins is a reversible post-synthesis modification that finetunes gene expression and function in diverse physiological processes. Aberrant methylation caused by genetic mutations or environmental stimuli promotes various diseases and accelerates aging, necessitating the development of therapies to correct the disease-driver methylation imbalance. In this Review, we summarize the operating system of methylation across the central dogma, which includes writers, erasers, readers, and reader-independent outputs. We then discuss how dysregulation of the system contributes to neurological disorders, cancer, and aging. Current small-molecule compounds that target the modifiers show modest success in certain cancers. The methylome-wide action and lack of specificity lead to undesirable biological effects and cytotoxicity, limiting their therapeutic application, especially for diseases with a monogenic cause or different directions of methylation changes. Emerging tools capable of site-specific methylation manipulation hold great promise to solve this dilemma. With the refinement of delivery vehicles, these new tools are well positioned to advance the basic research and clinical translation of the methylation field.