DNA methylation dynamics in neurogenesis

Neurogenesis is not limited to the embryonic stage, but continually proceeds in the adult brain throughout life. Epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, histone modification and noncoding RNA, play important roles in neurogenesis. For decades, DNA methylation was thought to be a stable modification, except for demethylation in the early embryo. In recent years, DNA methylation has proved to be dynamic during development. In this review, we summarize the latest understanding about DNA methylation dynamics in neurogenesis, including the roles of different methylation forms (5-methylcytosine, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine), as well as their 'writers', 'readers' and interactions with histone modifications.