An epigenetic cytosine DNA demethylation pathway that starts with the enzymatic oxidation of the 5-methylcytosine (5meC) to generate 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), which successively converted to 5-formylcytosine (5fC) and 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC).  A DNA glycosylase (e. g. TDG) recognizes the  intermediate bases 5fC and 5caC and excises the modified base to initiate its replacement with unmethylated cytosine through base excision repair.
epigenetic DNA demethylation, oxidation pathway