5-Methylcytidine is a modified nucleoside derived from 5-methylcytosine. It has been used in epigenetics research, especially in studies involving DNA methylation processes including genomic imprinting and the control of gene expression and differentiation.

The presence of 5-methylcytidine (m⁵C) in tRNA and rRNA molecules of a wide variety of organisms was first observed more than 40 years ago. Recent studies in eukaryotes have shown that mRNA modifications such as RNA-editing (conversion of an adenosine base to inosine), N6-adenine methylation (m⁶A), and 5-methylcytidine (m⁵C) can change the coding sequence, alter splicing patterns, or change RNA stability. 5-methylcytidine (m⁵C) is a modification that occurs both on DNA and RNA. In eukaryotes, this DNA modification has been extensively studied over the past years, and has been found to play a crucial role in genomic imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation, and suppression of repetitive elements.

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