## Description

DNA methylation is essential for normal development and is associated with silencing large regions of DNA through processes such as imprinting and X-chromosome inactivation. The majority of CpG dinucleotides are methylated in mammals. Unmethylated CpGs occur in segments called "CpG islands", which often lie in the upstream of genes in the regulatory regions and impact transcription.

## Display Conventions

These tracks depict the degree of methylation in CpG islands. CpG islands with stronger methylation scores are rendered in brighter colors, as described in each track details page.

## Credits

These data were generated and analyzed as part of the ENCODE project, a genome-wide consortium project with the aim of cataloging all functional elements in the human genome. This effort includes collecting a variety of data over a specific set of cell types. Consequently, data related to these tracks be available under ENCODE tracks.

## References

Illingworth RS, Bird AP. CpG islands--'a rough guide'. FEBS Lett. 2009 Jun 5;583(11):1713-20.
Caiafa P, Zampieri M. DNA methylation and chromatin structure: the puzzling CpG islands. J Cell Biochem. 2005 Feb 1;94(2):257-65.
Latham T, Gilbert N, Ramsahoye B. DNA methylation in mouse embryonic stem cells and development. Cell Tissue Res. 2008 Jan;331(1):31-55,

## Data Release Policy

Data users may freely use ENCODE data, but may not, without prior consent, submit publications that use an unpublished ENCODE dataset until nine months following the release of the dataset. This date is listed in the Restricted Until column on the track configuration page and the download page. The full data release policy for ENCODE is available here.