English: Demethylation of 5-Methylcytosine (5mC) in DNA. As reviewed in 2018, ^[1] 5mC is oxidized by the ten-eleven translocation (TET) family of dioxygenases ( TET1 , TET2 , TET3 ) to generate 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). In successive steps TET enzymes further hydroxylate 5hmC to generate 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC). Thymine-DNA glycosylase (TDG) recognizes the intermediate bases 5fC and 5caC and excises the glycosidic bond resulting in an apyrimidinic site ( AP site ). In an alternative oxidative deamination pathway, 5hmC can be oxidatively deaminated by activity-induced cytidine deaminase/apolipoprotein B mRNA editing complex (AID/APOBEC) deaminases to form 5-hydroxymethyluracil (5hmU) or 5mC can be converted to thymine (Thy). 5hmU can be cleaved by TDG, single-strand-selective monofunctional uracil-DNA glycosylase 1 ( SMUG1 ), Nei-Like DNA Glycosylase 1 ( NEIL1 ), or methyl-CpG binding protein 4 ( MBD4 ). AP sites and T:G mismatches are then repaired by base excision repair (BER) enzymes to yield cytosine (Cyt).