DNA molecules utilize adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine for coding genetic information. In addition to these four canonical nucleobases, DNA molecules also contain a variety of modified nucleobases that can control and regulate gene expression and chromosome structure. Elucidating the functions of DNA modifications relies on the sensitive detection, accurate quantification, and genome-wide mapping of these modifications in genomic DNA. The significant advances of techniques and methods in recent years have enabled the discovery and functional studies of a number of new modifications in DNA in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Mass spectrometry-based methods for analyzing DNA modifications have substantially advanced over the past decade, which has greatly stimulated the research of DNA epigenetic modifications. The emergence of next-generation sequencing technology provides complementary methodology to enable genome-wide mapping of modifications, which is very important to reveal the biological roles of DNA modifications. This perspective highlights the recent methodologies for the assessment of DNA modifications with focus on mass spectrometry and sequencing analytical strategies.

中文翻译：

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DNA表观遗传修饰的评估。

DNA分子利用腺嘌呤，胸腺嘧啶，胞嘧啶和鸟嘌呤来编码遗传信息。除了这四个规范的核碱基外，DNA分子还包含各种修饰的核碱基，它们可以控制和调节基因表达和染色体结构。阐明DNA修饰的功能依赖于基因组DNA中这些修饰的灵敏检测，准确定量和全基因组定位。近年来，技术和方法的重大进步使得原核生物和真核生物中许多新的DNA修饰的发现和功能研究成为可能。在过去的十年中，基于质谱的分析DNA修饰的方法已经有了很大的进步，这极大地刺激了DNA表观遗传修饰的研究。下一代测序技术的出现提供了互补的方法，可以进行全基因组的修饰图谱，这对于揭示DNA修饰的生物学作用非常重要。该观点突出了评估DNA修饰的最新方法，重点是质谱法和测序分析策略。