CpG Islands

MESHD018899

Areas of increased density of the dinucleotide sequence cytosine--phosphate diester--guanine. They form stretches of DNA several hundred to several thousand base pairs long. In humans there are about 45,000 CpG islands, mostly found at the 5' ends of genes. They are unmethylated except for those on the inactive X chromosome and some associated with imprinted genes.