1
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Chun Y, Lee JH, Bunyavanich S. Epigenomic and epigenetic investigations of food allergy. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2024; 35:e14065. [PMID: 38284919 PMCID: PMC10825314 DOI: 10.1111/pai.14065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
As a potential link between genetic predisposition, environmental exposures, and food allergy outcomes, epigenetics has been a molecular variable of interest in ongoing efforts to understand food allergy mechanisms and outcomes. Here we review population-based investigations of epigenetic loci associated with food allergy, focusing on established clinical food allergy. We first provide an overview of epigenetic mechanisms that have been studied in cohorts with food allergy, predominantly DNA methylation but also microRNA. We then discuss investigations that have implemented epigenome-wide approaches aimed at genome-wide profiling and discovery. Such epigenome-wide studies have collectively identified differentially methylated and differentially regulated loci associated with T cell development, antigen presentation, reaction severity, and causal mediation in food allergy. We then discuss candidate-gene investigations that have honed in on Th1, Th2, T regulatory, and innate genes of a priori interest in food allergy. These studies have highlighted methylation changes in specific candidate genes as associated with T regulatory cell activity as well as differential methylation of Type 1 and Type 2 cytokine genes associated with various food allergies. Intriguingly, epigenetic loci associated with food allergy have also been explored as potential biomarkers for the clinical management of food allergy. We conclude by highlighting several priority directions for advancing population-based epigenomic and epigenetic understandings of food allergy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoojin Chun
- Department of Genetics & Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jo Hsuan Lee
- Department of Genetics & Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Supinda Bunyavanich
- Department of Genetics & Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
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2
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Li Q, Gloudemans MJ, Geisinger JM, Fan B, Aguet F, Sun T, Ramaswami G, Li YI, Ma JB, Pritchard JK, Montgomery SB, Li JB. RNA editing underlies genetic risk of common inflammatory diseases. Nature 2022; 608:569-577. [PMID: 35922514 PMCID: PMC9790998 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05052-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
A major challenge in human genetics is to identify the molecular mechanisms of trait-associated and disease-associated variants. To achieve this, quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of genetic variants with intermediate molecular phenotypes such as gene expression and splicing have been widely adopted1,2. However, despite successes, the molecular basis for a considerable fraction of trait-associated and disease-associated variants remains unclear3,4. Here we show that ADAR-mediated adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing, a post-transcriptional event vital for suppressing cellular double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-mediated innate immune interferon responses5-11, is an important potential mechanism underlying genetic variants associated with common inflammatory diseases. We identified and characterized 30,319 cis-RNA editing QTLs (edQTLs) across 49 human tissues. These edQTLs were significantly enriched in genome-wide association study signals for autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases. Colocalization analysis of edQTLs with disease risk loci further pinpointed key, putatively immunogenic dsRNAs formed by expected inverted repeat Alu elements as well as unexpected, highly over-represented cis-natural antisense transcripts. Furthermore, inflammatory disease risk variants, in aggregate, were associated with reduced editing of nearby dsRNAs and induced interferon responses in inflammatory diseases. This unique directional effect agrees with the established mechanism that lack of RNA editing by ADAR1 leads to the specific activation of the dsRNA sensor MDA5 and subsequent interferon responses and inflammation7-9. Our findings implicate cellular dsRNA editing and sensing as a previously underappreciated mechanism of common inflammatory diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Li
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Michael J. Gloudemans
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,Biomedical Informatics Training Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Boming Fan
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | | | - Tao Sun
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Gokul Ramaswami
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Yang I. Li
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jin-Biao Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jonathan K. Pritchard
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Stephen B. Montgomery
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,Department of Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,These authors contributed equally: Stephen B. Montgomery, Jin Billy Li
| | - Jin Billy Li
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
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3
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Pelletier A, Carrier A, Zhao Y, Canouil M, Derhourhi M, Durand E, Berberian-Ferrato L, Greally J, Hughes F, Froguel P, Bonnefond A, Delahaye F. Epigenetic and Transcriptomic Programming of HSC Quiescence Signaling in Large for Gestational Age Neonates. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:7323. [PMID: 35806330 PMCID: PMC9267056 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23137323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Excessive fetal growth is associated with DNA methylation alterations in human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC), but their functional impact remains elusive. We implemented an integrative analysis combining single-cell epigenomics, single-cell transcriptomics, and in vitro analyses to functionally link DNA methylation changes to putative alterations of HSPC functions. We showed in hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) from large for gestational age neonates that both DNA hypermethylation and chromatin rearrangements target a specific network of transcription factors known to sustain stem cell quiescence. In parallel, we found a decreased expression of key genes regulating HSC differentiation including EGR1, KLF2, SOCS3, and JUNB. Our functional analyses showed that this epigenetic programming was associated with a decreased ability for HSCs to remain quiescent. Taken together, our multimodal approach using single-cell (epi)genomics showed that human fetal overgrowth affects hematopoietic stem cells' quiescence signaling via epigenetic programming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Pelletier
- Inserm U1283, CNRS UMR 8199, European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, Institut Pasteur de Lille, 59000 Lille, France; (A.P.); (A.C.); (M.C.); (M.D.); (E.D.); (L.B.-F.); (A.B.)
- Lille University Hospital, University of Lille, 59000 Lille, France
| | - Arnaud Carrier
- Inserm U1283, CNRS UMR 8199, European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, Institut Pasteur de Lille, 59000 Lille, France; (A.P.); (A.C.); (M.C.); (M.D.); (E.D.); (L.B.-F.); (A.B.)
- Lille University Hospital, University of Lille, 59000 Lille, France
| | - Yongmei Zhao
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY 10461, USA;
| | - Mickaël Canouil
- Inserm U1283, CNRS UMR 8199, European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, Institut Pasteur de Lille, 59000 Lille, France; (A.P.); (A.C.); (M.C.); (M.D.); (E.D.); (L.B.-F.); (A.B.)
- Lille University Hospital, University of Lille, 59000 Lille, France
| | - Mehdi Derhourhi
- Inserm U1283, CNRS UMR 8199, European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, Institut Pasteur de Lille, 59000 Lille, France; (A.P.); (A.C.); (M.C.); (M.D.); (E.D.); (L.B.-F.); (A.B.)
| | - Emmanuelle Durand
- Inserm U1283, CNRS UMR 8199, European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, Institut Pasteur de Lille, 59000 Lille, France; (A.P.); (A.C.); (M.C.); (M.D.); (E.D.); (L.B.-F.); (A.B.)
| | - Lionel Berberian-Ferrato
- Inserm U1283, CNRS UMR 8199, European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, Institut Pasteur de Lille, 59000 Lille, France; (A.P.); (A.C.); (M.C.); (M.D.); (E.D.); (L.B.-F.); (A.B.)
| | - John Greally
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1301 Morris Park Avenue, Price Building, Room 322, Bronx, NY 10461, USA;
| | - Francine Hughes
- Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA;
| | - Philippe Froguel
- Inserm U1283, CNRS UMR 8199, European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, Institut Pasteur de Lille, 59000 Lille, France; (A.P.); (A.C.); (M.C.); (M.D.); (E.D.); (L.B.-F.); (A.B.)
- Lille University Hospital, University of Lille, 59000 Lille, France
- Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2BX, UK
| | - Amélie Bonnefond
- Inserm U1283, CNRS UMR 8199, European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, Institut Pasteur de Lille, 59000 Lille, France; (A.P.); (A.C.); (M.C.); (M.D.); (E.D.); (L.B.-F.); (A.B.)
- Lille University Hospital, University of Lille, 59000 Lille, France
- Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, Imperial College London, Exhibition Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2BX, UK
| | - Fabien Delahaye
- Inserm U1283, CNRS UMR 8199, European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, Institut Pasteur de Lille, 59000 Lille, France; (A.P.); (A.C.); (M.C.); (M.D.); (E.D.); (L.B.-F.); (A.B.)
- Lille University Hospital, University of Lille, 59000 Lille, France
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4
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Ahmed M, Soares F, Xia JH, Yang Y, Li J, Guo H, Su P, Tian Y, Lee HJ, Wang M, Akhtar N, Houlahan KE, Bosch A, Zhou S, Mazrooei P, Hua JT, Chen S, Petricca J, Zeng Y, Davies A, Fraser M, Quigley DA, Feng FY, Boutros PC, Lupien M, Zoubeidi A, Wang L, Walsh MJ, Wang T, Ren S, Wei GH, He HH. CRISPRi screens reveal a DNA methylation-mediated 3D genome dependent causal mechanism in prostate cancer. Nat Commun 2021; 12:1781. [PMID: 33741908 PMCID: PMC7979745 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21867-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Prostate cancer (PCa) risk-associated SNPs are enriched in noncoding cis-regulatory elements (rCREs), yet their modi operandi and clinical impact remain elusive. Here, we perform CRISPRi screens of 260 rCREs in PCa cell lines. We find that rCREs harboring high risk SNPs are more essential for cell proliferation and H3K27ac occupancy is a strong indicator of essentiality. We also show that cell-line-specific essential rCREs are enriched in the 8q24.21 region, with the rs11986220-containing rCRE regulating MYC and PVT1 expression, cell proliferation and tumorigenesis in a cell-line-specific manner, depending on DNA methylation-orchestrated occupancy of a CTCF binding site in between this rCRE and the MYC promoter. We demonstrate that CTCF deposition at this site as measured by DNA methylation level is highly variable in prostate specimens, and observe the MYC eQTL in the 8q24.21 locus in individuals with low CTCF binding. Together our findings highlight a causal mechanism synergistically driven by a risk SNP and DNA methylation-mediated 3D genome architecture, advocating for the integration of genetics and epigenetics in assessing risks conferred by genetic predispositions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Musaddeque Ahmed
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Fraser Soares
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Ji-Han Xia
- Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Yue Yang
- Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, China
| | - Jing Li
- Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, China
| | - Haiyang Guo
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Peiran Su
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Yijun Tian
- Department of Tumor Biology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Hyung Joo Lee
- Department of Genetics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Miranda Wang
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Nayeema Akhtar
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Kathleen E Houlahan
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Vector Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Urology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Almudena Bosch
- Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Stanley Zhou
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Parisa Mazrooei
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Junjie T Hua
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Sujun Chen
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jessica Petricca
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Yong Zeng
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Alastair Davies
- The Vancouver Prostate Centre, Vancouver General Hospital and Department of Urologic Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Michael Fraser
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - David A Quigley
- Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Urology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Felix Y Feng
- Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Urology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Paul C Boutros
- Vector Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Urology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Institute for Precision Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Mathieu Lupien
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Amina Zoubeidi
- The Vancouver Prostate Centre, Vancouver General Hospital and Department of Urologic Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Liang Wang
- Department of Tumor Biology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Martin J Walsh
- Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ting Wang
- Department of Genetics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | | | - Gong-Hong Wei
- Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
- Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Housheng Hansen He
- Princess Margaret Cancer Center/University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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5
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Declerck K, Vanden Berghe W. Characterization of Blood Surrogate Immune-Methylation Biomarkers for Immune Cell Infiltration in Chronic Inflammaging Disorders. Front Genet 2019; 10:1229. [PMID: 31827492 PMCID: PMC6890858 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.01229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Accepted: 11/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and atherosclerosis are both chronic age- and inflammation-dependent diseases. In addition, atherosclerosis is frequently observed in AD patients indicating common involvement of vascular components in both disease etiologies. Recently, epigenome-wide association studies have identified epigenetic alterations, and in particularly DNA methylation changes for both disorders. We hypothesized the existence of a common DNA methylation profile in atherosclerosis and AD which may be valuable as a blood-based DNA methylation inflammaging biomarker. Using publicly available 450k Illumina methylation datasets, we identified a co-methylation network associated with both atherosclerosis and AD in whole blood samples. This methylation profile appeared to indicate shifts in blood immune cell type distribution. Remarkably, similar methylation changes were also detected in disease tissues, including AD brain tissues, atherosclerotic plaques, and tumors and were found to correlate with immune cell infiltration. In addition, this immune-related methylation profile could also be detected in other inflammaging diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and obesity, but not in multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, and osteoporosis. In conclusion, we identified a blood-based immune-related DNA methylation signature in multiple inflammaging diseases associated with changes in blood immune cell counts and predictive for immune cell infiltration in diseased tissues. In addition to epigenetic clock measurements, this immune-methylation signature may become a valuable blood-based biomarker to prevent chronic inflammatory disease development or monitor lifestyle intervention strategies which promote healthy aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Declerck
- Laboratory of Protein Chemistry, Proteomics, and Epigenetic Signaling (PPES), Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical, and Veterinary Sciences, Antwerp University, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Wim Vanden Berghe
- Laboratory of Protein Chemistry, Proteomics, and Epigenetic Signaling (PPES), Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical, and Veterinary Sciences, Antwerp University, Antwerp, Belgium
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6
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Martínez-Calle N, Pascual M, Ordoñez R, Enériz ESJ, Kulis M, Miranda E, Guruceaga E, Segura V, Larráyoz MJ, Bellosillo B, Calasanz MJ, Besses C, Rifón J, Martín-Subero JI, Agirre X, Prosper F. Epigenomic profiling of myelofibrosis reveals widespread DNA methylation changes in enhancer elements and ZFP36L1 as a potential tumor suppressor gene that is epigenetically regulated. Haematologica 2019; 104:1572-1579. [PMID: 30655376 PMCID: PMC6669145 DOI: 10.3324/haematol.2018.204917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2018] [Accepted: 01/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study we interrogated the DNA methylome of myelofibrosis patients using high-density DNA methylation arrays. We detected 35,215 differentially methylated CpG, corresponding to 10,253 genes, between myelofibrosis patients and healthy controls. These changes were present both in primary and secondary myelofibrosis, which showed no differences between them. Remarkably, most differentially methylated CpG were located outside gene promoter regions and showed significant association with enhancer regions. This aberrant enhancer hypermethylation was negatively correlated with the expression of 27 genes in the myelofibrosis cohort. Of these, we focused on the ZFP36L1 gene and validated its decreased expression and enhancer DNA hypermethylation in an independent cohort of patients and myeloid cell-lines. In vitro reporter assay and 5’-azacitidine treatment confirmed the functional relevance of hyper-methylation of ZFP36L1 enhancer. Furthermore, in vitro rescue of ZFP36L1 expression had an impact on cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in SET-2 cell line indicating a possible role of ZFP36L1 as a tumor suppressor gene in myelofibrosis. Collectively, we describe the DNA methylation profile of myelofibrosis, identifying extensive changes in enhancer elements and revealing ZFP36L1 as a novel candidate tumor suppressor gene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolás Martínez-Calle
- Área de Hemato-Oncología, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid
| | - Marien Pascual
- Área de Hemato-Oncología, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid
| | - Raquel Ordoñez
- Área de Hemato-Oncología, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid
| | - Edurne San José Enériz
- Área de Hemato-Oncología, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid
| | - Marta Kulis
- Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica, Barcelona
| | - Estíbaliz Miranda
- Área de Hemato-Oncología, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona.,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid
| | - Elisabeth Guruceaga
- Unidad de Bioinformática, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona
| | - Víctor Segura
- Unidad de Bioinformática, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona
| | | | | | - María José Calasanz
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid.,CIMA Laboratory of Diagnostics, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona
| | - Carles Besses
- Departmento de Hematología, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona
| | - José Rifón
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid.,Departamento de Hematología, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona
| | - José I Martín-Subero
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid.,Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona.,Departament de Fonaments Clinics, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xabier Agirre
- Área de Hemato-Oncología, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona .,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid
| | - Felipe Prosper
- Área de Hemato-Oncología, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona .,Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid.,Departamento de Hematología, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona
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7
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Genetic variants influence on the placenta regulatory landscape. PLoS Genet 2018; 14:e1007785. [PMID: 30452450 PMCID: PMC6277118 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2018] [Revised: 12/03/2018] [Accepted: 10/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
From genomic association studies, quantitative trait loci analysis, and epigenomic mapping, it is evident that significant efforts are necessary to define genetic-epigenetic interactions and understand their role in disease susceptibility and progression. For this reason, an analysis of the effects of genetic variation on gene expression and DNA methylation in human placentas at high resolution and whole-genome coverage will have multiple mechanistic and practical implications. By producing and analyzing DNA sequence variation (n = 303), DNA methylation (n = 303) and mRNA expression data (n = 80) from placentas from healthy women, we investigate the regulatory landscape of the human placenta and offer analytical approaches to integrate different types of genomic data and address some potential limitations of current platforms. We distinguish two profiles of interaction between expression and DNA methylation, revealing linear or bimodal effects, reflecting differences in genomic context, transcription factor recruitment, and possibly cell subpopulations. These findings help to clarify the interactions of genetic, epigenetic, and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms in normal human placentas. They also provide strong evidence for genotype-driven modifications of transcription and DNA methylation in normal placentas. In addition to these mechanistic implications, the data and analytical methods presented here will improve the interpretability of genome-wide and epigenome-wide association studies for human traits and diseases that involve placental functions. The placenta is a critical organ playing multiple roles including oxygen and metabolite transfer from mother to fetus, hormone production, and vascular perfusion. With this study, we aimed to deliver a placenta-specific regulatory map based on a combination of publicly available and newly generated data. To complete this reference, we obtained genotype information (n = 303), DNA methylation (n = 303) and expression data (n = 80) for placentas from healthy women. Our analysis of methylation and expression quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and correlations between methylation and expression data were designed to identify fundamental associations between genome, transcriptome, and epigenome in this key fetal organ. The results provide high-resolution genetic and epigenetic maps specific to the placenta based on a representative ethnically diverse cohort. As interest and efforts are growing to better understand the etiology of placental disease and the impact of the environment on placental function these data will provide a reference and enhance future investigations.
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8
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Abstract
The incidence of metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity continue to increase. Although it is evident that the increasing incidence of diabetes confers a global societal and economic burden, the mechanisms responsible for the increased incidence of T2D are not well understood. Extensive efforts to understand the association of early-life perturbations with later onset of metabolic diseases, the founding principle of developmental origins of health and disease, have been crucial in determining the mechanisms that may be driving the pathogenesis of T2D. As the programming of the epigenome occurs during critical periods of development, it has emerged as a potential molecular mechanism that could occur early in life and impact metabolic health decades later. In this review, we critically evaluate human and animal studies that illustrated an association of epigenetic processes with development of T2D as well as intervention strategies that have been employed to reverse the perturbed epigenetic modification or reprogram the naturally occurring epigenetic marks to favor improved metabolic outcome. We highlight that although our understanding of epigenetics and its contribution toward developmental origins of T2D continues to grow, whether epigenetics is a cause, consequence, or merely a correlation remains debatable due to the many limitations/challenges of the existing epigenetic studies. Finally, we discuss the potential of establishing collaborative research efforts between different disciplines, including physiology, epigenetics, and bioinformatics, to help advance the developmental origins field with great potential for understanding the pathogenesis of T2D and developing preventive strategies for T2D.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amita Bansal
- Center for Research on Reproduction and Women's Health, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Rebecca A Simmons
- Center for Research on Reproduction and Women's Health, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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9
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Benetatos L, Vartholomatos G. Enhancer DNA methylation in acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. Cell Mol Life Sci 2018; 75:1999-2009. [PMID: 29484447 PMCID: PMC11105366 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-018-2783-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2017] [Revised: 02/19/2018] [Accepted: 02/20/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
DNA methylation (CpG methylation) exerts an important role in normal differentiation and proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells and their differentiated progeny, while it has also the ability to regulate myeloid versus lymphoid fate. Mutations of the epigenetic machinery are observed in hematological malignancies including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) resulting in hyper- or hypo-methylation affecting several different pathways. Enhancers are cis-regulatory elements which promote transcription activation and are characterized by histone marks including H3K27ac and H3K4me1/2. These gene subunits are target gene expression 'fine-tuners', are differentially used during the hematopoietic differentiation, and, in contrast to promoters, are not shared by the different hematopoietic cell types. Although the interaction between gene promoters and DNA methylation has extensively been studied, much less is known about the interplay between enhancers and DNA methylation. In hematopoiesis, DNA methylation at enhancers has the potential to discriminate between fetal and adult erythropoiesis, and also is a regulatory mechanism in granulopoiesis through repression of neutrophil-specific enhancers in progenitor cells during maturation. The interplay between DNA methylation at enhancers is disrupted in AML and MDS and mainly hyper-methylation at enhancers raising early during myeloid lineage commitment is acquired during malignant transformation. Interactions between mutated epigenetic drivers and other oncogenic mutations also affect enhancers' activity with final result, myeloid differentiation block. In this review, we have assembled recent data regarding DNA methylation and enhancers' activity in normal and mainly myeloid malignancies.
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10
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Boyle KE, Patinkin ZW, Shapiro ALB, Bader C, Vanderlinden L, Kechris K, Janssen RC, Ford RJ, Smith BK, Steinberg GR, Davidson EJ, Yang IV, Dabelea D, Friedman JE. Maternal obesity alters fatty acid oxidation, AMPK activity, and associated DNA methylation in mesenchymal stem cells from human infants. Mol Metab 2017; 6:1503-1516. [PMID: 29107296 PMCID: PMC5681274 DOI: 10.1016/j.molmet.2017.08.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2017] [Revised: 08/22/2017] [Accepted: 08/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective Infants born to mothers with obesity have greater adiposity, ectopic fat storage, and are at increased risk for childhood obesity and metabolic disease compared with infants of normal weight mothers, though the cellular mechanisms mediating these effects are unclear. Methods We tested the hypothesis that human, umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from infants born to obese (Ob-MSC) versus normal weight (NW-MSC) mothers demonstrate altered fatty acid metabolism consistent with adult obesity. In infant MSCs undergoing myogenesis in vitro, we measured cellular lipid metabolism and AMPK activity, AMPK activation in response to cellular nutrient stress, and MSC DNA methylation and mRNA content of genes related to oxidative metabolism. Results We found that Ob-MSCs exhibit greater lipid accumulation, lower fatty acid oxidation (FAO), and dysregulation of AMPK activity when undergoing myogenesis in vitro. Further experiments revealed a clear phenotype distinction within the Ob-MSC group where more severe MSC metabolic perturbation corresponded to greater neonatal adiposity and umbilical cord blood insulin levels. Targeted analysis of DNA methylation array revealed Ob-MSC hypermethylation in genes regulating FAO (PRKAG2, ACC2, CPT1A, SDHC) and corresponding lower mRNA content of these genes. Moreover, MSC methylation was positively correlated with infant adiposity. Conclusions These data suggest that greater infant adiposity is associated with suppressed AMPK activity and reduced lipid oxidation in MSCs from infants born to mothers with obesity and may be an important, early marker of underlying obesity risk. Mesenchymal stem cells from infants of obese mothers have greater lipid content in vitro. This is attributable to lower fatty acid oxidation, not greater fatty acid uptake. AMPK is dysregulated in these cells and corresponds to higher infant adiposity. Epigenetic differences in genes regulating these pathways are observed in the cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen E Boyle
- Section of Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA.
| | - Zachary W Patinkin
- Section of Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Allison L B Shapiro
- Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Carly Bader
- Section of Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Lauren Vanderlinden
- Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Katerina Kechris
- Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Rachel C Janssen
- Section of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Rebecca J Ford
- Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Brennan K Smith
- Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Gregory R Steinberg
- Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Elizabeth J Davidson
- Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Ivana V Yang
- Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Dana Dabelea
- Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, and the Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Jacob E Friedman
- Section of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
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11
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Brückmann C, Islam SA, MacIsaac JL, Morin AM, Karle KN, Di Santo A, Wüst R, Lang I, Batra A, Kobor MS, Nieratschker V. DNA methylation signatures of chronic alcohol dependence in purified CD3 + T-cells of patients undergoing alcohol treatment. Sci Rep 2017; 7:6605. [PMID: 28747766 PMCID: PMC5529570 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-06847-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2017] [Accepted: 06/19/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Several studies have shown an association of alcohol dependence with DNA methylation (DNAm), suggesting that environmentally-induced changes on epigenomic variation may play an important role in alcohol dependence. In the present study, we analysed genome-wide DNAm profiles of purified CD3+ T-cells from pre- and post-treatment alcohol dependent patients, as well as closely matched healthy controls. We identified 59 differentially methylated CpG sites comparing patients prior to treatment with healthy controls and were able to confirm 8 of those sites in additional analyses for differentially methylated regions. Comparing patients before and after a 3-week alcohol treatment program we revealed another unique set of 48 differentially methylated CpG sites. Additionally, we found that the mean global DNAm was significantly lower in patients prior to treatment compared to controls, but reverted back to levels similar to controls after treatment. We validated top-ranked hits derived from the epigenome-wide analysis by pyrosequencing and further replicated two of them in an independent cohort and confirmed differential DNAm of HECW2 and SRPK3 in whole blood. This study is the first to show widespread DNAm variation in a disease-relevant blood cell type and implicates HECW2 and SRPK3 DNAm as promising blood-based candidates to follow up in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christof Brückmann
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Sumaiya A Islam
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Julia L MacIsaac
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Alexander M Morin
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Kathrin N Karle
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Adriana Di Santo
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Richard Wüst
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.,Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Immanuel Lang
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Anil Batra
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Michael S Kobor
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Human Early Learning Partnership, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Vanessa Nieratschker
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany.
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12
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Rozman JZ, Pohar Perme M, Jez M, Malicev E, Krasna M, Vrtovec B, Rozman P. DNA Methylation and Hydroxymethylation Profile of CD34 +-Enriched Cell Products Intended for Autologous CD34 + Cell Transplantation. DNA Cell Biol 2017; 36:737-746. [PMID: 28613929 DOI: 10.1089/dna.2017.3729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic dysregulation has been shown to limit functional capacity of aging hematopoietic stem cells, which may contribute to impaired outcome of hematopoietic stem cell-based therapies. The aim of our study was to gain better insight into the epigenetic profile of CD34+-enriched cell products intended for autologous CD34+ cell transplantation in patients with cardiomyopathy. We found global DNA methylation content significantly higher in immunoselected CD34+ cells compared to leukocytes in leukapheresis products (2.33 ± 1.03% vs. 1.84 ± 0.86%, p = 0.04). Global DNA hydroxymethylation content did not differ between CD34+ cells and leukocytes (p = 0.30). By measuring methylation levels of 94 stem cell transcription factors on a ready-to-use array, we identified 15 factors in which average promoter methylation was significantly different between leukocytes and CD34+ cells. The difference was highest for HOXC12 (58.18 ± 6.47% vs. 13.34 ± 24.18%, p = 0.0009) and NR2F2 (51.65 ± 25.89% vs. 7.66 ± 21.43%, p = 0.0045) genes. Our findings suggest that global DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation patterns as well as target methylation profile of selected genes in CD34+-enriched cell products do not differ significantly compared to leukapheresis products and, thus, can tell us little about the functional capacity and regenerative properties of CD34+ cells. Future studies should examine other CD34+ cell graft characteristics, which may serve as prognostic tools for autologous CD34+ cell transplantation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Maja Pohar Perme
- 2 Institute for Biostatistics and Medical Informatics , Faculty of Medicine Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Mojca Jez
- 1 Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia , Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Elvira Malicev
- 1 Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia , Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Metka Krasna
- 1 Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia , Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Bojan Vrtovec
- 3 Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation Center, University Medical Center Ljubljana , Ljubljana, Slovenia
- 4 Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine , Stanford, California
| | - Primoz Rozman
- 1 Blood Transfusion Centre of Slovenia , Ljubljana, Slovenia
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13
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14
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de Torrente L, Zimmerman S, Taylor D, Hasegawa Y, Wells CA, Mar JC. pathVar: a new method for pathway-based interpretation of gene expression variability. PeerJ 2017; 5:e3334. [PMID: 28560097 PMCID: PMC5444375 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2016] [Accepted: 04/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Identifying the pathways that control a cellular phenotype is the first step to building a mechanistic model. Recent examples in developmental biology, cancer genomics, and neurological disease have demonstrated how changes in the variability of gene expression can highlight important genes that are under different degrees of regulatory control. Simple statistical tests exist to identify differentially-variable genes; however, methods for investigating how changes in gene expression variability in the context of pathways and gene sets are under-explored. Here we present pathVar, a new method that provides functional interpretation of gene expression variability changes at the level of pathways and gene sets. pathVar is based on a multinomial exact test, or an asymptotic Chi-squared test as a more computationally-efficient alternative. The method can be used for gene expression studies from any technology platform in all biological settings either with a single phenotypic group, or two-group comparisons. To demonstrate its utility, we applied the method to a diverse set of diseases, species and samples. Results from pathVar are benchmarked against analyses based on average expression and two methods of GSEA, and demonstrate that analyses using both statistics are useful for understanding transcriptional regulation. We also provide recommendations for the choice of variability statistic that have been informed through analyses on simulations and real data. Based on the datasets selected, we show how pathVar can be used to gain insight into expression variability of single cell versus bulk samples, different stem cell populations, and cancer versus normal tissue comparisons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurence de Torrente
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States of America
| | - Samuel Zimmerman
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States of America
| | - Deanne Taylor
- Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America.,Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America
| | - Yu Hasegawa
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States of America
| | - Christine A Wells
- Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Jessica C Mar
- Department of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States of America.,Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States of America.,University of Queensland, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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15
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Wijetunga NA, Pascual M, Tozour J, Delahaye F, Alani M, Adeyeye M, Wolkoff AW, Verma A, Greally JM. A pre-neoplastic epigenetic field defect in HCV-infected liver at transcription factor binding sites and polycomb targets. Oncogene 2017; 36:2030-2044. [PMID: 27721404 PMCID: PMC5383522 DOI: 10.1038/onc.2016.340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2015] [Revised: 07/26/2016] [Accepted: 08/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The predisposition of patients with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) involves components of viral infection, inflammation and time. The development of multifocal, genetically distinct tumours is suggestive of a field defect affecting the entire liver. The molecular susceptibility mediating such a field defect is not understood. One potential mediator of long-term cellular reprogramming is heritable (epigenetic) regulation of transcription, exemplified by DNA methylation. We studied epigenetic and transcriptional changes in HCV-infected livers in comparison with control, uninfected livers and HCC, allowing us to identify pre-neoplastic epigenetic and transcriptional events. We find the HCV-infected liver to have a pattern of acquisition of DNA methylation targeted to candidate enhancers active in liver cells, enriched for the binding sites of the FOXA1, FOXA2 and HNF4A transcription factors. These enhancers can be subdivided into those proximal to genes implicated in liver cancer or to genes involved in stem cell development, the latter distinguished by increased CG dinucleotide density and polycomb-mediated repression, manifested by the additional acquisition of histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3). Transcriptional studies on our samples showed that the increased DNA methylation at enhancers was associated with decreased local gene expression, results validated in independent samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Pharmacological depletion of H3K27me3 using the EZH2 inhibitor GSK343 in HepG2 cells suppressed cell growth and also revealed that local acquired DNA methylation was not dependent upon the presence of polycomb-mediated repression. The results support a model of HCV infection influencing the binding of transcription factors to cognate sites in the genome, with consequent local acquisition of DNA methylation, and the added repressive influence of polycomb at a subset of CG-dense cis-regulatory sequences. These epigenetic events occur before neoplastic transformation, resulting in what may be a pharmacologically reversible epigenetic field defect in HCV-infected liver.
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Affiliation(s)
- N A Wijetunga
- Department of Genetics and Center for Epigenomics, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - M Pascual
- Department of Genetics and Center for Epigenomics, Bronx, NY, USA
- Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada (CIMA), IDISNA, Oncohematology Department, Pamplona, Spain
| | - J Tozour
- Department of Genetics and Center for Epigenomics, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - F Delahaye
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - M Alani
- Department of Medicine (Division of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases), Bronx, NY, USA
- Marion Bessin Liver Research Center, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - M Adeyeye
- Department of Genetics and Center for Epigenomics, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - A W Wolkoff
- Department of Medicine (Division of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases), Bronx, NY, USA
- Marion Bessin Liver Research Center, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - A Verma
- Department of Medicine (Oncology), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - J M Greally
- Department of Genetics and Center for Epigenomics, Bronx, NY, USA
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1301 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx NY 10461, USA. E-mail:
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16
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Abstract
The field of epigenetics is maturing, with increased interest in understanding the normal regulation of the genome and the possibility that it becomes reprogrammed aberrantly as part of the cause of disease phenotypes. Applying the current technologies and insights to the study of human populations is potentially a way of understanding mechanisms and consequences of these diseases. When extended to encompass health care disparities, understanding why certain populations are unusually prone to specific conditions, there is certainly some potential for gaining new and valuable insights, but these studies are likely to be unusually prone to the effects of confounding influences and need to be designed, executed and interpreted with extra care.
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Affiliation(s)
- John M Greally
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1301 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx NY 10461, USA, Telephone: +1 718 678 1234
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17
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Yotova I, Hsu E, Do C, Gaba A, Sczabolcs M, Dekan S, Kenner L, Wenzl R, Tycko B. Epigenetic Alterations Affecting Transcription Factors and Signaling Pathways in Stromal Cells of Endometriosis. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0170859. [PMID: 28125717 PMCID: PMC5268815 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2016] [Accepted: 01/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Endometriosis is characterized by growth of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterine cavity. Since its pathogenesis may involve epigenetic changes, we used Illumina 450K Methylation Beadchips to profile CpG methylation in endometriosis stromal cells compared to stromal cells from normal endometrium. We validated and extended the Beadchip data using bisulfite sequencing (bis-seq), and analyzed differential methylation (DM) at the CpG-level and by an element-level classification for groups of CpGs in chromatin domains. Genes found to have DM included examples encoding transporters (SLC22A23), signaling components (BDNF, DAPK1, ROR1, and WNT5A) and transcription factors (GATA family, HAND2, HOXA cluster, NR5A1, OSR2, TBX3). Intriguingly, among the TF genes with DM we also found JAZF1, a proto-oncogene affected by chromosomal translocations in endometrial stromal tumors. Using RNA-Seq we identified a subset of the DM genes showing differential expression (DE), with the likelihood of DE increasing with the extent of the DM and its location in enhancer elements. Supporting functional relevance, treatment of stromal cells with the hypomethylating drug 5aza-dC led to activation of DAPK1 and SLC22A23 and repression of HAND2, JAZF1, OSR2, and ROR1 mRNA expression. We found that global 5hmC is decreased in endometriotic versus normal epithelial but not stroma cells, and for JAZF1 and BDNF examined by oxidative bis-seq, found that when 5hmC is detected, patterns of 5hmC paralleled those of 5mC. Together with prior studies, these results define a consistent epigenetic signature in endometriosis stromal cells and nominate specific transcriptional and signaling pathways as therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iveta Yotova
- Institute for Cancer Genetics, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, United States of America
- Department of Gynecology and Gynecological Oncology, University Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- * E-mail:
| | - Emily Hsu
- Institute for Cancer Genetics, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Catherine Do
- Institute for Cancer Genetics, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Aulona Gaba
- Department of Gynecology and Gynecological Oncology, University Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Matthias Sczabolcs
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Sabine Dekan
- Department of Experimental Pathology, Clinical Institute of Pathology, University Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lukas Kenner
- Department of Experimental Pathology, Clinical Institute of Pathology, University Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Pathology Laboratory Animal Pathology University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research, Vienna, Austria
| | - Rene Wenzl
- Department of Gynecology and Gynecological Oncology, University Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Benjamin Tycko
- Institute for Cancer Genetics, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, United States of America
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, United States of America
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DNA Methylation Dynamics of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cell Differentiation. Cell Stem Cell 2016; 19:808-822. [PMID: 27867036 PMCID: PMC5145815 DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2016.10.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 172] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2016] [Revised: 10/04/2016] [Accepted: 10/24/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Hematopoietic stem cells give rise to all blood cells in a differentiation process that involves widespread epigenome remodeling. Here we present genome-wide reference maps of the associated DNA methylation dynamics. We used a meta-epigenomic approach that combines DNA methylation profiles across many small pools of cells and performed single-cell methylome sequencing to assess cell-to-cell heterogeneity. The resulting dataset identified characteristic differences between HSCs derived from fetal liver, cord blood, bone marrow, and peripheral blood. We also observed lineage-specific DNA methylation between myeloid and lymphoid progenitors, characterized immature multi-lymphoid progenitors, and detected progressive DNA methylation differences in maturing megakaryocytes. We linked these patterns to gene expression, histone modifications, and chromatin accessibility, and we used machine learning to derive a model of human hematopoietic differentiation directly from DNA methylation data. Our results contribute to a better understanding of human hematopoietic stem cell differentiation and provide a framework for studying blood-linked diseases. Sequencing provides DNA methylation maps of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells Methylation differs in HSCs from fetal liver, bone marrow, cord, and peripheral blood Myeloid and lymphoid progenitors are distinguished by enhancer-linked DNA methylation Machine learning enables data-driven reconstruction of the hematopoietic lineage
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19
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Heo HJ, Tozour JN, Delahaye F, Zhao Y, Cui L, Barzilai N, Einstein FH. Advanced aging phenotype is revealed by epigenetic modifications in rat liver after in utero malnutrition. Aging Cell 2016; 15:964-72. [PMID: 27470058 PMCID: PMC5013021 DOI: 10.1111/acel.12505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/21/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Adverse environmental exposures of mothers during fetal period predispose offspring to a range of age-related diseases earlier in life. Here, we set to determine whether a deregulated epigenetic pattern is similar in young animals whose mothers' nutrition was modulated during fetal growth to that acquired during normal aging in animals. Using a rodent model of maternal undernutrition (UN) or overnutrition (ON), we examined cytosine methylation profiles of liver from young female offspring and compared them to age-matched young controls and aged (20-month-old) animals. HELP-tagging, a genomewide restriction enzyme and sequencing assay demonstrates that fetal exposure to two different maternal diets is associated with nonrandom dysregulation of methylation levels with profiles similar to those seen in normal aging animals and occur in regions mapped to genes relevant to metabolic diseases and aging. Functional consequences were assessed by gene expression at 9 weeks old with more significant changes at 6 months of age. Early developmental exposures to unfavorable maternal diets result in altered methylation profiles and transcriptional dysregulation in Prkcb, Pc, Ncor2, and Smad3 that is also seen with normal aging. These Notch pathway and lipogenesis genes may be useful for prediction of later susceptibility to chronic disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hye J. Heo
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women's Health Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave Bronx NY 10461 USA
| | - Jessica N. Tozour
- Department of Genetics Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave Bronx NY 10461 USA
| | - Fabien Delahaye
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women's Health Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave Bronx NY 10461 USA
- Department of Genetics Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave Bronx NY 10461 USA
| | - Yongmei Zhao
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women's Health Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave Bronx NY 10461 USA
| | - Lingguang Cui
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women's Health Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave Bronx NY 10461 USA
| | - Nir Barzilai
- Department of Genetics Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave Bronx NY 10461 USA
- Department of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave Bronx NY 10461 USA
| | - Francine Hughes Einstein
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women's Health Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave Bronx NY 10461 USA
- Department of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave Bronx NY 10461 USA
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20
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Bell CG, Xia Y, Yuan W, Gao F, Ward K, Roos L, Mangino M, Hysi PG, Bell J, Wang J, Spector TD. Novel regional age-associated DNA methylation changes within human common disease-associated loci. Genome Biol 2016; 17:193. [PMID: 27663977 PMCID: PMC5034469 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-016-1051-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2016] [Accepted: 08/31/2016] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Advancing age progressively impacts on risk and severity of chronic disease. It also modifies the epigenome, with changes in DNA methylation, due to both random drift and variation within specific functional loci. Results In a discovery set of 2238 peripheral-blood genome-wide DNA methylomes aged 19–82 years, we identify 71 age-associated differentially methylated regions within the linkage disequilibrium blocks of the single nucleotide polymorphisms from the NIH genome-wide association study catalogue. This included 52 novel regions, 29 within loci not covered by 450 k or 27 k Illumina array, and with enrichment for DNase-I Hypersensitivity sites across the full range of tissues. These age-associated differentially methylated regions also show marked enrichment for enhancers and poised promoters across multiple cell types. In a replication set of 2084 DNA methylomes, 95.7 % of the age-associated differentially methylated regions showed the same direction of ageing effect, with 80.3 % and 53.5 % replicated to p < 0.05 and p < 1.85 × 10–8, respectively. Conclusion By analysing the functionally enriched disease and trait-associated regions of the human genome, we identify novel epigenetic ageing changes, which could be useful biomarkers or provide mechanistic insights into age-related common diseases. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-016-1051-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher G Bell
- Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK. .,MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. .,Human Development and Health Academic Unit, Institute of Developmental Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK. .,Epigenomic Medicine, Biological Sciences, Faculty of Environmental and Natural Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
| | | | - Wei Yuan
- Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK.,Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK
| | - Fei Gao
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China
| | - Kirsten Ward
- Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Leonie Roos
- Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Massimo Mangino
- Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Pirro G Hysi
- Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Jordana Bell
- Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Jun Wang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083, China
| | - Timothy D Spector
- Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK
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21
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Abstract
Epigenome-wide association studies represent one means of applying genome-wide assays to identify molecular events that could be associated with human phenotypes. The epigenome is especially intriguing as a target for study, as epigenetic regulatory processes are, by definition, heritable from parent to daughter cells and are found to have transcriptional regulatory properties. As such, the epigenome is an attractive candidate for mediating long-term responses to cellular stimuli, such as environmental effects modifying disease risk. Such epigenomic studies represent a broader category of disease -omics, which suffer from multiple problems in design and execution that severely limit their interpretability. Here we define many of the problems with current epigenomic studies and propose solutions that can be applied to allow this and other disease -omics studies to achieve their potential for generating valuable insights.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ewan Birney
- European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - George Davey Smith
- University of Bristol, School of Social and Community Medicine, Oakfield House, Oakfield Grove, United Kingdom
| | - John M. Greally
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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22
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Zheng SC, Widschwendter M, Teschendorff AE. Epigenetic drift, epigenetic clocks and cancer risk. Epigenomics 2016; 8:705-19. [PMID: 27104983 DOI: 10.2217/epi-2015-0017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
It is well-established that the DNA methylation landscape of normal cells undergoes a gradual modification with age, termed as 'epigenetic drift'. Here, we review the current state of knowledge of epigenetic drift and its potential role in cancer etiology. We propose a new terminology to help distinguish the different components of epigenetic drift, with the aim of clarifying the role of the epigenetic clock, mitotic clocks and active changes, which accumulate in response to environmental disease risk factors. We further highlight the growing evidence that epigenetic changes associated with cancer risk factors may play an important causal role in cancer development, and that monitoring these molecular changes in normal cells may offer novel risk prediction and disease prevention strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shijie C Zheng
- CAS Key Lab of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Martin Widschwendter
- Department of Women's Cancer, University College London, 74 Huntley Street, London, WC1E 6AU, UK
| | - Andrew E Teschendorff
- CAS Key Lab of Computational Biology, CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.,Department of Women's Cancer, University College London, 74 Huntley Street, London, WC1E 6AU, UK.,Statistical Cancer Genomics, UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, 72 Huntley Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
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23
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Barnicle A, Seoighe C, Golden A, Greally JM, Egan LJ. Differential DNA methylation patterns of homeobox genes in proximal and distal colon epithelial cells. Physiol Genomics 2016; 48:257-73. [PMID: 26812987 DOI: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00046.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2015] [Accepted: 01/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Region and cell-type specific differences in the molecular make up of colon epithelial cells have been reported. Those differences may underlie the region-specific characteristics of common colon epithelial diseases such as colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. DNA methylation is a cell-type specific epigenetic mark, essential for transcriptional regulation, silencing of repetitive DNA and genomic imprinting. Little is known about any region-specific variations in methylation patterns in human colon epithelial cells. Using purified epithelial cells and whole biopsies (n= 19) from human subjects, we generated epigenome-wide DNA methylation data (using the HELP-tagging assay), comparing the methylation signatures of the proximal and distal colon. We identified a total of 125 differentially methylated sites (DMS) mapping to transcription start sites of protein-coding genes, most notably several members of the homeobox (HOX) family of genes. Patterns of differential methylation were validated with MassArray EpiTYPER. We also examined DNA methylation in whole biopsies, applying a computational technique to deconvolve variation in methylation within cell types and variation in cell-type composition across biopsies. Including inferred epithelial proportions as a covariate in differential methylation analysis applied to the whole biopsies resulted in greater overlap with the results obtained from purified epithelial cells compared with when the covariate was not included. Results obtained from both approaches highlight region-specific methylation patterns of HOX genes in colonic epithelium. Regional variation in methylation patterns has implications for the study of diseases that exhibit regional expression patterns in the human colon, such as inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Barnicle
- Clinical Pharmacology, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland; School of Mathematics, Statistics and Applied Mathematics, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland; and
| | - Cathal Seoighe
- School of Mathematics, Statistics and Applied Mathematics, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland; and
| | - Aaron Golden
- Center of Epigenomics and Department of Genetics (Division of Computational Genetics), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
| | - John M Greally
- Center of Epigenomics and Department of Genetics (Division of Computational Genetics), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
| | - Laurence J Egan
- Clinical Pharmacology, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland;
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24
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Oey H, Isbel L, Hickey P, Ebaid B, Whitelaw E. Genetic and epigenetic variation among inbred mouse littermates: identification of inter-individual differentially methylated regions. Epigenetics Chromatin 2015; 8:54. [PMID: 26692901 PMCID: PMC4676890 DOI: 10.1186/s13072-015-0047-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2015] [Accepted: 11/23/2015] [Indexed: 05/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Phenotypic variability among inbred littermates reared in controlled environments remains poorly understood. Metastable epialleles refer to loci that intrinsically behave in this way and a few examples have been described. They display differential methylation in association with differential expression. For example, inbred mice carrying the agouti viable yellow (Avy) allele show a range of coat colours associated with different DNA methylation states at the locus. The availability of next-generation sequencing, in particular whole genome sequencing of bisulphite converted DNA, allows us, for the first time, to search for metastable epialleles at base pair resolution. Results Using whole genome bisulphite sequencing of DNA from the livers of five mice from the Avy colony, we searched for sites at which DNA methylation differed among the mice. A small number of loci, 356, were detected and we call these inter-individual Differentially Methylated Regions, iiDMRs, 55 of which overlap with endogenous retroviral elements (ERVs). Whole genome resequencing of two mice from the colony identified very few differences and these did not occur at or near the iiDMRs. Further work suggested that the majority of ERV iiDMRs are metastable epialleles; the level of methylation was maintained in tissue from other germ layers and the level of mRNA from the neighbouring gene inversely correlated with methylation state. Most iiDMRs that were not overlapping ERV insertions occurred at tissue-specific DMRs and it cannot be ruled out that these are driven by changes in the ratio of cell types in the tissues analysed. Conclusions Using the most thorough genome-wide profiling technologies for differentially methylated regions, we find very few intrinsically epigenetically variable regions that we term iiDMRs. The most robust of these are at retroviral elements and appear to be metastable epialleles. The non-ERV iiDMRs cannot be described as metastable epialleles at this stage but provide a novel class of variably methylated elements for further study. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13072-015-0047-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harald Oey
- Department of Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC 3086 Australia.,University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Translational Research Institute, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD 4102 Australia
| | - Luke Isbel
- Department of Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC 3086 Australia
| | - Peter Hickey
- Bioinformatics Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052 Australia
| | - Basant Ebaid
- Department of Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC 3086 Australia
| | - Emma Whitelaw
- Department of Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, VIC 3086 Australia
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25
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Bayarsaihan D. Toward integrative annotation of cell type-specific epigenomes to better understand human biology and disease. Epigenomics 2015; 7:519-21. [PMID: 26111024 DOI: 10.2217/epi.15.26] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Dashzeveg Bayarsaihan
- Center for Regenerative Medicine & Skeletal Development, Department of Reconstructive Sciences, University of Connecticut Health Center, 262 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030, USA
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26
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Ulahannan N, Greally JM. Genome-wide assays that identify and quantify modified cytosines in human disease studies. Epigenetics Chromatin 2015; 8:5. [PMID: 25788985 PMCID: PMC4363328 DOI: 10.1186/1756-8935-8-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2014] [Accepted: 01/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The number of different assays that has been published to study DNA methylation is extensive, complemented by recently described assays that test modifications of cytosine other than the most abundant 5-methylcytosine (5mC) variant. In this review, we describe the considerations involved in choosing how to study 5mC throughout the genome, with an emphasis on the common application of testing for epigenetic dysregulation in human disease. While microarray studies of 5mC continue to be commonly used, these lack the additional qualitative information from sequencing-based approaches that is increasingly recognized to be valuable. When we test the representation of functional elements in the human genome by several current assay types, we find that no survey approach interrogates anything more than a small minority of the nonpromoter cis-regulatory sites where DNA methylation variability is now appreciated to influence gene expression and to be associated with human disease. However, whole-genome bisulphite sequencing (WGBS) adds a substantial representation of loci at which DNA methylation changes are unlikely to be occurring with transcriptional consequences. Our assessment is that the most effective approach to DNA methylation studies in human diseases is to use targeted bisulphite sequencing of the cis-regulatory loci in a cell type of interest, using a capture-based or comparable system, and that no single design of a survey approach will be suitable for all cell types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Netha Ulahannan
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Center for Epigenomics and Division of Computational Genetics, 1301 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461 USA
| | - John M Greally
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Center for Epigenomics and Division of Computational Genetics, 1301 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461 USA
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27
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Delahaye F, Wijetunga NA, Heo HJ, Tozour JN, Zhao YM, Greally JM, Einstein FH. Sexual dimorphism in epigenomic responses of stem cells to extreme fetal growth. Nat Commun 2014; 5:5187. [PMID: 25300954 PMCID: PMC4197137 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2014] [Accepted: 09/08/2014] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Extreme fetal growth is associated with increased susceptibility to a range of adult diseases through an unknown mechanism of cellular memory. We tested whether heritable epigenetic processes in long-lived CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) showed evidence for re-programming associated with the extremes of fetal growth. Here we show that both fetal growth restriction and over-growth are associated with global shifts towards DNA hypermethylation, targeting cis-regulatory elements in proximity to genes involved in glucose homeostasis and stem cell function. We find a sexually dimorphic response; intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is associated with substantially greater epigenetic dysregulation in males, whereas large for gestational age (LGA) growth predominantly affects females. The findings are consistent with extreme fetal growth interacting with variable fetal susceptibility to influence cellular aging and metabolic characteristics through epigenetic mechanisms, potentially generating biomarkers that could identify infants at higher risk for chronic disease later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabien Delahaye
- Department of Obstetrics &Gynecology and Women's Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Block Building, Room 631, Bronx, New York 10461, USA
| | - N Ari Wijetunga
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1301 Morris Park Avenue, Price Building, Room 322, Bronx, New York 10461, USA
| | - Hye J Heo
- Department of Obstetrics &Gynecology and Women's Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Block Building, Room 631, Bronx, New York 10461, USA
| | - Jessica N Tozour
- Department of Obstetrics &Gynecology and Women's Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Block Building, Room 631, Bronx, New York 10461, USA
| | - Yong Mei Zhao
- Department of Obstetrics &Gynecology and Women's Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Block Building, Room 631, Bronx, New York 10461, USA
| | - John M Greally
- Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1301 Morris Park Avenue, Price Building, Room 322, Bronx, New York 10461, USA
| | - Francine H Einstein
- Department of Obstetrics &Gynecology and Women's Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Block Building, Room 631, Bronx, New York 10461, USA
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