An oligodeoxyribonucleotide containing 5-formyl-2'-deoxycytidine (fC) at the CpG site forms a covalent complex with DNA cytosine-5 methyltransferases (DNMTs).

5-Methylcytosine (mC) is known to induce epigenetic changes. Ten-eleven translocation (TET) enzymes produce the further oxidized 5-substituted cytosine derivatives, 5-formylcytosine (fC) and 5-carboxylcytosine (caC). However, their roles are unclear thus far. Here, we synthesized oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ODNs) containing 5-formyl-2'-deoxycytidine and examined their interactions with DNA cytosine-5 methyltransferase (DNMT). We found that the ODN sequence containing fCpG formed a covalent complex with both bacterial and mouse recombinant DNMTs in the absence of any cofactors. The covalent bonding with DNMT suggests that the fCpG sequence in DNA may play a role in epigenetic regulation.