C5-cytosine DNA methyltransferase-3A; DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase 3A; Dnmt3a; DNA methyltransferase HsaIIIA; DNA MTase HsaIIIA; M.HsaIIIA (DNMT3A)

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Function

responsible for genome wide de novo methylation in mammals
catalyzes S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-mediated methylation of cytosine to form 5-methylcytosine + S-adenosyl-l-homocysteine
essential for the establishment of DNA methylation patterns during development
DNA methylation is coordinated with methylation of histones
modifies DNA in a non-processive manner & also methylates non-CpG sites
may preferentially methylate DNA linker between 2 nucleosomal cores & is inhibited by histone H1
role in paternal & maternal imprinting
required for methylation of most imprinted loci in germ cells
acts as a transcriptional corepressor for ZNF238
can actively repress transcription through the recruitment of HDAC activity
activated by binding to the regulatory factor DNMT3L (putative)
sumoylated; sumoylation disrupts the ability to interact with histone deacetylases (HDAC1 & HDAC2) & represses transcription
heterotetramer composed of 1 DNMT3A homodimer & 2 DNMT3L subunits (DNMT3L-DNMT3A-DNMT3A-DNMT3L)
interacts with UBC9, PIAS1 & PIAS2 (putative)
binds the ZNF238 transcriptional repressor
interacts with SETDB1
associates with HDAC1 through its ADD-type Zn+2-finger (putative)
interacts with DNMT1 & DNMT3B
interacts with the PRC2/EED-EZH2 complex

S-adenosyl-L-methionine + DNA = S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine + DNA containing 5-methylcytosine

highly expressed in fetal tissues, skeletal muscle, heart, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, kidney
expressed at lower levels in placenta, brain, liver, colon, spleen, small intestine & lung