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van Bever Y, Boers RG, Brüggenwirth HT, van IJcken WF, Magielsen FJ, de Klein A, Boers JB, Looijenga LH, Brosens E, Gribnau J, Hannema SE. Genome-wide methylation analysis in patients with proximal hypospadias - a pilot study and review of the literature. Epigenetics 2024; 19:2392048. [PMID: 39151125 PMCID: PMC11373573 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2024.2392048] [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] [Received: 04/24/2024] [Revised: 07/03/2024] [Accepted: 08/06/2024] [Indexed: 08/18/2024] Open
Abstract
In patients with proximal hypospadias, often no genetic cause is identified despite extensive genetic testing. Many genes involved in sex development encode transcription factors with strict timing and dosing of the gene products. We hypothesised that there might be recurrent differences in DNA methylation in boys with hypospadias and that these might differ between patients born small versus appropriate for gestational age. Genome-wide Methylated DNA sequencing (MeD-seq) was performed on 32bp LpnPI restriction enzyme fragments after RE-digestion in leucocytes from 16 XY boys with unexplained proximal hypospadias, one with an unexplained XX testicular disorder/difference of sex development (DSD) and twelve, healthy, sex- and age-matched controls. Five of seven differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between patients and XY controls were in the Long Intergenic Non-Protein Coding RNA 665 (LINC00665; CpG24525). Three patients showed hypermethylation of MAP3K1. Finally, no DMRs in XX testicular DSD associated genes were identified in the XX boy versus XX controls. In conclusion, we observed no recognizable epigenetic signature in 16 boys with XY proximal hypospadias and no difference between children born small versus appropriate for gestational age. Comparison to previous methylation studies in individuals with hypospadias did not show consistent findings, possibly due to the use of different inclusion criteria, tissues and methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yolande van Bever
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Erasmus MC Center of Expertise for DSD, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ruben G Boers
- Department of Developmental Biology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Hennie T Brüggenwirth
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Erasmus MC Center of Expertise for DSD, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Wilfred Fj van IJcken
- Center for Biomics, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Cell biology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Frank J Magielsen
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Annelies de Klein
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Joachim B Boers
- Department of Developmental Biology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Leendert Hj Looijenga
- Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht, and Department of Pathology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Erwin Brosens
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Joost Gribnau
- Department of Developmental Biology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Sabine E Hannema
- Erasmus MC Center of Expertise for DSD, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Paediatric Endocrinology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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2
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Halama A, Zaghlool S, Thareja G, Kader S, Al Muftah W, Mook-Kanamori M, Sarwath H, Mohamoud YA, Stephan N, Ameling S, Pucic Baković M, Krumsiek J, Prehn C, Adamski J, Schwenk JM, Friedrich N, Völker U, Wuhrer M, Lauc G, Najafi-Shoushtari SH, Malek JA, Graumann J, Mook-Kanamori D, Schmidt F, Suhre K. A roadmap to the molecular human linking multiomics with population traits and diabetes subtypes. Nat Commun 2024; 15:7111. [PMID: 39160153 PMCID: PMC11333501 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51134-x] [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] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2024] [Indexed: 08/21/2024] Open
Abstract
In-depth multiomic phenotyping provides molecular insights into complex physiological processes and their pathologies. Here, we report on integrating 18 diverse deep molecular phenotyping (omics-) technologies applied to urine, blood, and saliva samples from 391 participants of the multiethnic diabetes Qatar Metabolomics Study of Diabetes (QMDiab). Using 6,304 quantitative molecular traits with 1,221,345 genetic variants, methylation at 470,837 DNA CpG sites, and gene expression of 57,000 transcripts, we determine (1) within-platform partial correlations, (2) between-platform mutual best correlations, and (3) genome-, epigenome-, transcriptome-, and phenome-wide associations. Combined into a molecular network of > 34,000 statistically significant trait-trait links in biofluids, our study portrays "The Molecular Human". We describe the variances explained by each omics in the phenotypes (age, sex, BMI, and diabetes state), platform complementarity, and the inherent correlation structures of multiomics data. Further, we construct multi-molecular network of diabetes subtypes. Finally, we generated an open-access web interface to "The Molecular Human" ( http://comics.metabolomix.com ), providing interactive data exploration and hypotheses generation possibilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Halama
- Bioinformatics Core, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar.
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Shaza Zaghlool
- Bioinformatics Core, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Gaurav Thareja
- Bioinformatics Core, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sara Kader
- Bioinformatics Core, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Wadha Al Muftah
- Qatar Genome Program, Qatar Foundation, Qatar Science and Technology Park, Innovation Center, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Genetic Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Hina Sarwath
- Proteomics Core, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Nisha Stephan
- Bioinformatics Core, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sabine Ameling
- German Centre for Cardiovascular Research, Partner Site Greifswald, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Department of Functional Genomics, Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | | | - Jan Krumsiek
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Cornelia Prehn
- Metabolomics and Proteomics Core, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Jerzy Adamski
- Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Jochen M Schwenk
- Science for Life Laboratory, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Solna, Sweden
| | - Nele Friedrich
- German Centre for Cardiovascular Research, Partner Site Greifswald, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Uwe Völker
- German Centre for Cardiovascular Research, Partner Site Greifswald, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Department of Functional Genomics, Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Manfred Wuhrer
- Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Gordan Lauc
- Genos Glycoscience Research Laboratory, Zagreb, Croatia
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - S Hani Najafi-Shoushtari
- MicroRNA Core Laboratory, Division of Research, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Joel A Malek
- Department of Genetic Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, Doha, Qatar
- Genomics Core, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar
| | - Johannes Graumann
- Institute of Translational Proteomics, Department of Medicine, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Dennis Mook-Kanamori
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Frank Schmidt
- Proteomics Core, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Biochemistry, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Karsten Suhre
- Bioinformatics Core, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar.
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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Zhang W, Zhang X, Qiu C, Zhang Z, Su KJ, Luo Z, Liu M, Zhao B, Wu L, Tian Q, Shen H, Wu C, Deng HW. An atlas of genetic effects on the monocyte methylome across European and African populations. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.08.12.24311885. [PMID: 39211851 PMCID: PMC11361221 DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.12.24311885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
Elucidating the genetic architecture of DNA methylation (DNAm) is crucial for decoding the etiology of complex diseases. However, current epigenomic studies often suffer from incomplete coverage of methylation sites and the use of tissues containing heterogeneous cell populations. To address these challenges, we present a comprehensive human methylome atlas based on deep whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of purified monocytes from 298 European Americans (EA) and 160 African Americans (AA) in the Louisiana Osteoporosis Study. Our atlas enables the analysis of over 25 million DNAm sites. We identified 1,383,250 and 1,721,167 methylation quantitative trait loci (meQTLs) in cis -regions for EA and AA populations, respectively, with 880,108 sites shared between ancestries. While cis -meQTLs exhibited population-specific patterns, primarily due to differences in minor allele frequencies, shared cis -meQTLs showed high concordance across ancestries. Notably, cis -heritability estimates revealed significantly higher mean values in the AA population (0.09) compared to the EA population (0.04). Furthermore, we developed population-specific DNAm imputation models using Elastic Net, enabling methylome-wide association studies (MWAS) for 1,976,046 and 2,657,581 methylation sites in EA and AA, respectively. The performance of our MWAS models was validated through a systematic multi-ancestry analysis of 41 complex traits from the Million Veteran Program. Our findings bridge the gap between genomics and the monocyte methylome, uncovering novel methylation-phenotype associations and their transferability across diverse ancestries. The identified meQTLs, MWAS models, and data resources are freely available at www.gcbhub.org and https://osf.io/gct57/ .
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Hodge KM, Burt AA, Camerota M, Carter BS, Check J, Conneely KN, Helderman J, Hofheimer JA, Hüls A, McGowan EC, Neal CR, Pastyrnak SL, Smith LM, DellaGrotta SA, Dansereau LM, O'Shea TM, Marsit CJ, Lester BM, Everson TM. Epigenetic associations with neonatal age in infants born very preterm, particularly among genes involved in neurodevelopment. Sci Rep 2024; 14:18147. [PMID: 39103365 PMCID: PMC11300786 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-68071-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 07/19/2024] [Indexed: 08/07/2024] Open
Abstract
The time from conception through the first year of life is the most dynamic period in human development. This time period is particularly important for infants born very preterm (< 30 weeks gestation; VPT), as they experience a significant disruption in the normal developmental trajectories and are at heightened risk of experiencing developmental impairments and delays. Variations in the epigenetic landscape during this period may reflect this disruption and shed light on the interrelationships between aging, maturation, and the epigenome. We evaluated how gestational age (GA) and age since conception in neonates [post-menstrual age (PMA)], were related to DNA methylation in buccal cells collected at NICU discharge from VPT infants (n = 538). After adjusting for confounders and applying Bonferroni correction, we identified 2,366 individual CpGs associated with GA and 14,979 individual CpGs associated with PMA, as well as multiple differentially methylated regions. Pathway enrichment analysis identified pathways involved in axonogenesis and regulation of neuron projection development, among many other growth and developmental pathways (FDR q < 0.001). Our findings align with prior work, and also identify numerous novel associations, suggesting that genes important in growth and development, particularly neurodevelopment, are subject to substantial epigenetic changes during early development among children born VPT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenyaita M Hodge
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Amber A Burt
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Marie Camerota
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
- Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Brian S Carter
- Department of Pediatrics-Neonatology, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO, USA
| | - Jennifer Check
- Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Karen N Conneely
- Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jennifer Helderman
- Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Julie A Hofheimer
- Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Anke Hüls
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Elisabeth C McGowan
- Department of Pediatrics, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Charles R Neal
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Steven L Pastyrnak
- Department of Pediatrics, Spectrum Health-Helen Devos Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI, USA
| | - Lynne M Smith
- Department of Pediatrics, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA
| | - Sheri A DellaGrotta
- Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Lynne M Dansereau
- Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
| | - T Michael O'Shea
- Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Carmen J Marsit
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Barry M Lester
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
- Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Todd M Everson
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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Patil V, Perez-Carpena P, Lopez-Escamez JA. A systematic review on the contribution of DNA methylation to hearing loss. Clin Epigenetics 2024; 16:88. [PMID: 38970134 PMCID: PMC11227199 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-024-01697-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/07/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND DNA methylation may have a regulatory role in monogenic sensorineural hearing loss and complex, polygenic phenotypic forms of hearing loss, including age-related hearing impairment or Meniere disease. The purpose of this systematic review is to critically assess the evidence supporting a functional role of DNA methylation in phenotypes associated with hearing loss. RESULTS The search strategy yielded a total of 661 articles. After quality assessment, 25 records were selected (12 human DNA methylation studies, 5 experimental animal studies and 8 studies reporting mutations in the DNMT1 gene). Although some methylation studies reported significant differences in CpG methylation in diverse gene promoters associated with complex hearing loss phenotypes (ARHI, otosclerosis, MD), only one study included a replication cohort that supported a regulatory role for CpG methylation in the genes TCF25 and POLE in ARHI. Conversely, several studies have independently confirmed pathogenic mutations within exon 21 of the DNMT1 gene, which encodes the DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase 1 enzyme. This methylation enzyme is strongly associated with a rare disease defined by autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia, deafness and narcolepsy (ADCA-DN). Of note, rare variants in DNMT1 and DNMT3A genes have also been reported in noise-induced hearing loss. CONCLUSIONS Evidence supporting a functional role for DNA methylation in hearing loss is limited to few genes in complex disorders such as ARHI. Mutations in the DNMT1 gene are associated with ADCA-DN, suggesting the CpG methylation in hearing loss genes deserves further attention in hearing research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vibha Patil
- Meniere's Disease Neuroscience Research Program, Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, The Kolling Institute, University of Sydney, Rm 611024, Level 11 Kolling Institute | 10 Westbourne St, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW, 2064, Australia.
| | - Patricia Perez-Carpena
- Division of Otolaryngology, Department of Surgery, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, Ibs.Granada, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Otology & Neurotology Group CTS495, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, ibs.GRANADA, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Sensorineural Pathology Program, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Raras, CIBERER, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Otolaryngology, Hospital Universitario San Cecilio, Instituto de Investigacion Biosanitaria, ibs.GRANADA, Granada, Spain
| | - Jose A Lopez-Escamez
- Meniere's Disease Neuroscience Research Program, Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, The Kolling Institute, University of Sydney, Rm 611024, Level 11 Kolling Institute | 10 Westbourne St, St Leonards, Sydney, NSW, 2064, Australia
- Division of Otolaryngology, Department of Surgery, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, Ibs.Granada, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Otology & Neurotology Group CTS495, Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, ibs.GRANADA, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
- Sensorineural Pathology Program, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Raras, CIBERER, Madrid, Spain
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Patel D, McElroy JP, Weng DY, Sahar K, Reisinger SA, Freudenheim JL, Wewers MD, Shields PG, Song MA. Sex-related DNA methylation is associated with inflammation and gene expression in the lungs of healthy individuals. Sci Rep 2024; 14:14280. [PMID: 38902313 PMCID: PMC11190195 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65027-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Lung cancer exhibits sex-biased molecular characteristics and epidemiological trends, suggesting a need for sex-specific approaches to understanding its etiology and treatment. DNA methylation alterations play critical roles in lung carcinogenesis and may serve as valuable biomarkers for precision medicine strategies. We employed the Infinium MethylationEPIC array to identify autosomal sex-related differentially methylated CpG sites (DM-CpGs) in lung epithelium of healthy individuals (32 females and 37 males) while controlling for age, BMI, and tobacco use. We correlated DM-CpGs with gene expression in lung epithelium and immune responses in bronchoalveolar lavage. We validated these DM-CpGs in lung tumors and adjacent normal tissue from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Among 522 identified DM-CpGs, 61% were hypermethylated in females, predominantly located in promoter regions. These DM genes were implicated in cell-to-cell signaling, cellular function, transport, and lipid metabolism. Correlation analysis revealed sex-specific patterns between DM-CpGs and gene expression. Additionally, several DM-CpGs were correlated significantly with cytokines (IL-1β, IL-4, IL-12p70, and IFN-γ), macrophage, and lymphocyte counts. Also, some DM-CpGs were observed in TCGA lung adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and adjacent normal tissues. Our findings highlight sex-specific DNA methylation patterns in healthy lung epithelium and their associations with lung gene expression and lung immune biomarkers. These findings underscore the potential role of lung sex-related CpGs as epigenetic predispositions influencing sex disparities in lung cancer risk and outcomes, warranting further investigation for personalized lung cancer management strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devki Patel
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Joseph P McElroy
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University and James Cancer Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Daniel Y Weng
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University and James Cancer Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Kamel Sahar
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University and James Cancer Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Sarah A Reisinger
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University and James Cancer Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Jo L Freudenheim
- Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA
| | - Mark D Wewers
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Peter G Shields
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University and James Cancer Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA.
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
| | - Min-Ae Song
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
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Davyson E, Shen X, Huider F, Adams M, Borges K, McCartney D, Barker L, Van Dongen J, Boomsma D, Weihs A, Grabe H, Kühn L, Teumer A, Völzke H, Zhu T, Kaprio J, Ollikainen M, David FS, Meinert S, Stein F, Forstner AJ, Dannlowski U, Kircher T, Tapuc A, Czamara D, Binder EB, Brückl T, Kwong A, Yousefi P, Wong C, Arseneault L, Fisher HL, Mill J, Cox S, Redmond P, Russ TC, van den Oord E, Aberg KA, Penninx B, Marioni RE, Wray NR, McIntosh AM. Antidepressant Exposure and DNA Methylation: Insights from a Methylome-Wide Association Study. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.05.01.24306640. [PMID: 38746357 PMCID: PMC11092700 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.01.24306640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Importance Understanding antidepressant mechanisms could help design more effective and tolerated treatments. Objective Identify DNA methylation (DNAm) changes associated with antidepressant exposure. Design Case-control methylome-wide association studies (MWAS) of antidepressant exposure were performed from blood samples collected between 2006-2011 in Generation Scotland (GS). The summary statistics were tested for enrichment in specific tissues, gene ontologies and an independent MWAS in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). A methylation profile score (MPS) was derived and tested for its association with antidepressant exposure in eight independent cohorts, alongside prospective data from GS. Setting Cohorts; GS, NESDA, FTC, SHIP-Trend, FOR2107, LBC1936, MARS-UniDep, ALSPAC, E-Risk, and NTR. Participants Participants with DNAm data and self-report/prescription derived antidepressant exposure. Main Outcomes and Measures Whole-blood DNAm levels were assayed by the EPIC/450K Illumina array (9 studies, N exposed = 661, N unexposed = 9,575) alongside MBD-Seq in NESDA (N exposed = 398, N unexposed = 414). Antidepressant exposure was measured by self- report and/or antidepressant prescriptions. Results The self-report MWAS (N = 16,536, N exposed = 1,508, mean age = 48, 59% female) and the prescription-derived MWAS (N = 7,951, N exposed = 861, mean age = 47, 59% female), found hypermethylation at seven and four DNAm sites (p < 9.42x10 -8 ), respectively. The top locus was cg26277237 ( KANK1, p self-report = 9.3x10 -13 , p prescription = 6.1x10 -3 ). The self-report MWAS found a differentially methylated region, mapping to DGUOK-AS1 ( p adj = 5.0x10 -3 ) alongside significant enrichment for genes expressed in the amygdala, the "synaptic vesicle membrane" gene ontology and the top 1% of CpGs from the NESDA MWAS (OR = 1.39, p < 0.042). The MPS was associated with antidepressant exposure in meta-analysed data from external cohorts (N studies = 9, N = 10,236, N exposed = 661, f3 = 0.196, p < 1x10 -4 ). Conclusions and Relevance Antidepressant exposure is associated with changes in DNAm across different cohorts. Further investigation into these changes could inform on new targets for antidepressant treatments. 3 Key Points Question: Is antidepressant exposure associated with differential whole blood DNA methylation?Findings: In this methylome-wide association study of 16,536 adults across Scotland, antidepressant exposure was significantly associated with hypermethylation at CpGs mapping to KANK1 and DGUOK-AS1. A methylation profile score trained on this sample was significantly associated with antidepressant exposure (pooled f3 [95%CI]=0.196 [0.105, 0.288], p < 1x10 -4 ) in a meta-analysis of external datasets. Meaning: Antidepressant exposure is associated with hypermethylation at KANK1 and DGUOK-AS1 , which have roles in mitochondrial metabolism and neurite outgrowth. If replicated in future studies, targeting these genes could inform the design of more effective and better tolerated treatments for depression.
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8
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Cao H, Fang C, Liu LL, Farnir F, Liu WJ. Identification of Susceptibility Genes Underlying Bovine Respiratory Disease in Xinjiang Brown Cattle Based on DNA Methylation. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:4928. [PMID: 38732144 PMCID: PMC11084705 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25094928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2024] [Revised: 04/25/2024] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation is a form of epigenetic regulation, having pivotal parts in controlling cellular expansion and expression levels within genes. Although blood DNA methylation has been studied in humans and other species, its prominence in cattle is largely unknown. This study aimed to methodically probe the genomic methylation map of Xinjiang brown (XJB) cattle suffering from bovine respiratory disease (BRD), consequently widening cattle blood methylome ranges. Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of the XJB blood was investigated through whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS). Many differentially methylated regions (DMRs) obtained by comparing the cases and controls groups were found within the CG, CHG, and CHH (where H is A, T, or C) sequences (16,765, 7502, and 2656, respectively), encompassing 4334 differentially methylated genes (DMGs). Furthermore, GO/KEGG analyses showed that some DMGs were involved within immune response pathways. Combining WGBS-Seq data and existing RNA-Seq data, we identified 71 significantly differentially methylated (DMGs) and expressed (DEGs) genes (p < 0.05). Next, complementary analyses identified nine DMGs (LTA, STAT3, IKBKG, IRAK1, NOD2, TLR2, TNFRSF1A, and IKBKB) that might be involved in the immune response of XJB cattle infected with respiratory diseases. Although further investigations are needed to confirm their exact implication in the involved immune processes, these genes could potentially be used for a marker-assisted selection of animals resistant to BRD. This study also provides new knowledge regarding epigenetic control for the bovine respiratory immune process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hang Cao
- College of Animal Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China; (H.C.); (L.-L.L.)
| | - Chao Fang
- Faculte de Medecine Veterinaire, Universite de Liege, Quartier Vallee 2, Avenue de Cureghem 6 (B43), 4000 Liege, Belgium;
| | - Ling-Ling Liu
- College of Animal Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China; (H.C.); (L.-L.L.)
| | - Frederic Farnir
- Faculte de Medecine Veterinaire, Universite de Liege, Quartier Vallee 2, Avenue de Cureghem 6 (B43), 4000 Liege, Belgium;
| | - Wu-Jun Liu
- College of Animal Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China; (H.C.); (L.-L.L.)
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9
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Tesfaye M, Spindola LM, Stavrum AK, Shadrin A, Melle I, Andreassen OA, Le Hellard S. Sex effects on DNA methylation affect discovery in epigenome-wide association study of schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry 2024:10.1038/s41380-024-02513-9. [PMID: 38503926 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02513-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024]
Abstract
Sex differences in the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of schizophrenia are well-known; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying these differences remain unclear. Further, the potential advantages of sex-stratified meta-analyses of epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) of schizophrenia have not been investigated. Here, we performed sex-stratified EWAS meta-analyses to investigate whether sex stratification improves discovery, and to identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in schizophrenia. Peripheral blood-derived DNA methylation data from 1519 cases of schizophrenia (male n = 989, female n = 530) and 1723 controls (male n = 997, female n = 726) from three publicly available datasets, and the TOP cohort were meta-analyzed to compare sex-specific, sex-stratified, and sex-adjusted EWAS. The predictive power of each model was assessed by polymethylation score (PMS). The number of schizophrenia-associated differentially methylated positions identified was higher for the sex-stratified model than for the sex-adjusted one. We identified 20 schizophrenia-associated DMRs in the sex-stratified analysis. PMS from sex-stratified analysis outperformed that from sex-adjusted analysis in predicting schizophrenia. Notably, PMSs from the sex-stratified and female-only analyses, but not those from sex-adjusted or the male-only analyses, significantly predicted schizophrenia in males. The findings suggest that sex-stratified EWAS meta-analyses improve the identification of schizophrenia-associated epigenetic changes and highlight an interaction between sex and schizophrenia status on DNA methylation. Sex-specific DNA methylation may have potential implications for precision psychiatry and the development of stratified treatments for schizophrenia.
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Grants
- 273291, 273446, 326813, 223273 Norges Forskningsråd (Research Council of Norway)
- 273291, 273446, 326813, 223273 Norges Forskningsråd (Research Council of Norway)
- 273291, 273446, 326813, 223273 Norges Forskningsråd (Research Council of Norway)
- 273291, 273446, 326813, 223273 Norges Forskningsråd (Research Council of Norway)
- 273291, 273446, 326813, 223273 Norges Forskningsråd (Research Council of Norway)
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Affiliation(s)
- Markos Tesfaye
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
- NORMENT, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
| | - Leticia M Spindola
- NORMENT, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Dr. Einar Martens Research Group for Biological Psychiatry, Department of Medical Genetics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
- Bergen Center for Brain Plasticity, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
| | - Anne-Kristin Stavrum
- NORMENT, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Dr. Einar Martens Research Group for Biological Psychiatry, Department of Medical Genetics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
| | - Alexey Shadrin
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ingrid Melle
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ole A Andreassen
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Stephanie Le Hellard
- NORMENT, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
- Dr. Einar Martens Research Group for Biological Psychiatry, Department of Medical Genetics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
- Bergen Center for Brain Plasticity, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
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10
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Hoang TT, Lee Y, McCartney DL, Kersten ETG, Page CM, Hulls PM, Lee M, Walker RM, Breeze CE, Bennett BD, Burkholder AB, Ward J, Brantsæter AL, Caspersen IH, Motsinger-Reif AA, Richards M, White JD, Zhao S, Richmond RC, Magnus MC, Koppelman GH, Evans KL, Marioni RE, Håberg SE, London SJ. Comprehensive evaluation of smoking exposures and their interactions on DNA methylation. EBioMedicine 2024; 100:104956. [PMID: 38199042 PMCID: PMC10825325 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Smoking impacts DNA methylation, but data are lacking on smoking-related differential methylation by sex or dietary intake, recent smoking cessation (<1 year), persistence of differential methylation from in utero smoking exposure, and effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). METHODS We meta-analysed data from up to 15,014 adults across 5 cohorts with DNA methylation measured in blood using Illumina's EPIC array for current smoking (2560 exposed), quit < 1 year (500 exposed), in utero (286 exposed), and ETS exposure (676 exposed). We also evaluated the interaction of current smoking with sex or diet (fibre, folate, and vitamin C). FINDINGS Using false discovery rate (FDR < 0.05), 65,857 CpGs were differentially methylated in relation to current smoking, 4025 with recent quitting, 594 with in utero exposure, and 6 with ETS. Most current smoking CpGs attenuated within a year of quitting. CpGs related to in utero exposure in adults were enriched for those previously observed in newborns. Differential methylation by current smoking at 4-71 CpGs may be modified by sex or dietary intake. Nearly half (35-50%) of differentially methylated CpGs on the 450 K array were associated with blood gene expression. Current smoking and in utero smoking CpGs implicated 3049 and 1067 druggable targets, including chemotherapy drugs. INTERPRETATION Many smoking-related methylation sites were identified with Illumina's EPIC array. Most signals revert to levels observed in never smokers within a year of cessation. Many in utero smoking CpGs persist into adulthood. Smoking-related druggable targets may provide insights into cancer treatment response and shared mechanisms across smoking-related diseases. FUNDING Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of Education and Research, Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates and the Scottish Funding Council, Medical Research Council UK and the Wellcome Trust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thanh T Hoang
- Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Cancer and Hematology Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Yunsung Lee
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Daniel L McCartney
- Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Elin T G Kersten
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Beatrix Children's Hospital, Dept. of Pediatric Pulmonology and Pediatric Allergy, Groningen, the Netherlands; University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, GRIAC Research Institute, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Christian M Page
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Department of Physical Health and Ageing, Division for Physical and Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Paige M Hulls
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK; MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at University of Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
| | - Mikyeong Lee
- Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Rosie M Walker
- Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK; Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Chancellor's Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK; School of Psychology, University of Exeter, Perry Road, Exeter, UK
| | - Charles E Breeze
- UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, Paul O'Gorman Building, London, UK; Altius Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Brian D Bennett
- Department of Health and Human Services, Integrative Bioinformatics Support Group, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Adam B Burkholder
- Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Environmental Science Cyberinfrastructure, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - James Ward
- Department of Health and Human Services, Integrative Bioinformatics Support Group, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Anne Lise Brantsæter
- Department of Food Safety, Division of Climate and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ida H Caspersen
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Alison A Motsinger-Reif
- Department of Health and Human Services, Biostatistics and Computational Biology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | | | - Julie D White
- Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA; GenOmics and Translational Research Center, Analytics Practice Area, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Shanshan Zhao
- Department of Health and Human Services, Biostatistics and Computational Biology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Rebecca C Richmond
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK; MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at University of Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
| | - Maria C Magnus
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Gerard H Koppelman
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Beatrix Children's Hospital, Dept. of Pediatric Pulmonology and Pediatric Allergy, Groningen, the Netherlands; University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, GRIAC Research Institute, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Kathryn L Evans
- Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Riccardo E Marioni
- Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Crewe Road South, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Siri E Håberg
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Stephanie J London
- Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
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11
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Qu Y, Zhang X, Qiao R, Di F, Song Y, Wang J, Ji L, Zhang J, Gu W, Fang Y, Han B, Yang R, Dai L, Ouyang S. Blood FOLR3 methylation dysregulations and heterogeneity in non-small lung cancer highlight its strong associations with lung squamous carcinoma. Respir Res 2024; 25:59. [PMID: 38273401 PMCID: PMC10809478 DOI: 10.1186/s12931-024-02691-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/14/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for the vast majority of lung cancers. Early detection is crucial to reduce lung cancer-related mortality. Aberrant DNA methylation occurs early during carcinogenesis and can be detected in blood. It is essential to investigate the dysregulated blood methylation markers for early diagnosis of NSCLC. METHODS NSCLC-associated methylation gene folate receptor gamma (FOLR3) was selected from an Illumina 850K array analysis of peripheral blood samples. Mass spectrometry was used for validation in two independent case-control studies (validation I: n = 2548; validation II: n = 3866). Patients with lung squamous carcinoma (LUSC) or lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), normal controls (NCs) and benign pulmonary nodule (BPN) cases were included. FOLR3 methylations were compared among different populations. Their associations with NSCLC clinical features were investigated. Receiver operating characteristic analyses, Kruskal-Wallis test, Wilcoxon test, logistics regression analysis and nomogram analysis were performed. RESULTS Two CpG sites (CpG_1 and CpG_2) of FOLR3 was significantly lower methylated in NSCLC patients than NCs in the discovery round. In the two validations, both LUSC and LUAD patients presented significant FOLR3 hypomethylations. LUSC patients were highlighted to have significantly lower methylation levels of CpG_1 and CpG_2 than BPN cases and LUAD patients. Both in the two validations, CpG_1 methylation and CpG_2 methylation could discriminate LUSC from NCs well, with areas under the curve (AUCs) of 0.818 and 0.832 in validation I, and 0.789 and 0.780 in validation II. They could also differentiate LUAD from NCs, but with lower efficiency. CpG_1 and CpG_2 methylations could also discriminate LUSC from BPNs well individually in the two validations. With the combined dataset of two validations, the independent associations of age, gender, and FOLR3 methylation with LUSC and LUAD risk were shown and the age-gender-CpG_1 signature could discriminate LUSC and LUAD from NCs and BPNs, with higher efficiency for LUSC. CONCLUSIONS Blood-based FOLR3 hypomethylation was shown in LUSC and LUAD. FOLR3 methylation heterogeneity between LUSC and LUAD highlighted its stronger associations with LUSC. FOLR3 methylation and the age-gender-CpG_1 signature might be novel diagnostic markers for the early detection of NSCLC, especially for LUSC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunhui Qu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University and the Key Clinical Laboratory of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, 450052, China
| | - Xiuzhi Zhang
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 4500001, China
| | - Rong Qiao
- Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200030, China
| | - Feifei Di
- Nanjing TANTICA Biotechnology Co. Ltd, Nanjing, 210000, China
| | - Yakang Song
- Nanjing TANTICA Biotechnology Co. Ltd, Nanjing, 210000, China
| | - Jun Wang
- Nanjing TANTICA Biotechnology Co. Ltd, Nanjing, 210000, China
| | - Longtao Ji
- Henan Institute of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences & Henan Key Medical Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biomarkers, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210000, China
| | - Wanjian Gu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Jiangsu Province Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210000, China
| | - Yifei Fang
- Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China
| | - Baohui Han
- Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200030, China
| | - Rongxi Yang
- Nanjing TANTICA Biotechnology Co. Ltd, Nanjing, 210000, China.
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210000, China.
| | - Liping Dai
- Henan Institute of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences & Henan Key Medical Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Biomarkers, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
| | - Songyun Ouyang
- Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, China.
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12
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Kalyakulina A, Yusipov I, Kondakova E, Bacalini MG, Giuliani C, Sivtseva T, Semenov S, Ksenofontov A, Nikolaeva M, Khusnutdinova E, Zakharova R, Vedunova M, Franceschi C, Ivanchenko M. Epigenetics of the far northern Yakutian population. Clin Epigenetics 2023; 15:189. [PMID: 38053163 PMCID: PMC10699032 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-023-01600-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Yakuts are one of the indigenous populations of the subarctic and arctic territories of Siberia characterized by a continental subarctic climate with severe winters, with the regular January average temperature in the regional capital city of Yakutsk dipping below - 40 °C. The epigenetic mechanisms of adaptation to such ecologies and environments and, in particular, epigenetic age acceleration in the local population have not been studied before. RESULTS This work reports the first epigenetic study of the Yakutian population using whole-blood DNA methylation data, supplemented with the comparison to the residents of Central Russia. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed, among others, geographic region-specific differentially methylated regions associated with adaptation to climatic conditions (water consumption, digestive system regulation), aging processes (actin filament activity, cell fate), and both of them (channel activity, regulation of steroid and corticosteroid hormone secretion). Further, it is demonstrated that the epigenetic age acceleration of the Yakutian representatives is significantly higher than that of Central Russia counterparts. For both geographic regions, we showed that epigenetically males age faster than females, whereas no significant sex differences were found between the regions. CONCLUSIONS We performed the first study of the epigenetic data of the Yakutia cohort, paying special attention to region-specific features, aging processes, age acceleration, and sex specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alena Kalyakulina
- Institute of Information Technologies, Mathematics and Mechanics, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russia.
- Institute of Biogerontology, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russia.
| | - Igor Yusipov
- Institute of Information Technologies, Mathematics and Mechanics, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russia
- Institute of Biogerontology, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russia
| | - Elena Kondakova
- Institute of Biogerontology, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russia
- Institute of Biology and Biomedicine, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russia
| | | | - Cristina Giuliani
- Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology and Centre for Genome Biology, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - Tatiana Sivtseva
- Research Center of the Medical Institute of the North-Eastern Federal University M.K. Ammosova, Yakutsk, 677013, Russia
| | - Sergey Semenov
- Research Center of the Medical Institute of the North-Eastern Federal University M.K. Ammosova, Yakutsk, 677013, Russia
| | - Artem Ksenofontov
- State Budgetary Institution of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Republican Center for Public Health and Medical Prevention, Yakutsk, 677001, Russia
| | - Maria Nikolaeva
- Research Center of the Medical Institute of the North-Eastern Federal University M.K. Ammosova, Yakutsk, 677013, Russia
| | - Elza Khusnutdinova
- Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics, Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russia, 450054
| | - Raisa Zakharova
- Research Center of the Medical Institute of the North-Eastern Federal University M.K. Ammosova, Yakutsk, 677013, Russia
| | - Maria Vedunova
- Institute of Biology and Biomedicine, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russia
| | - Claudio Franceschi
- Institute of Information Technologies, Mathematics and Mechanics, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russia
- Institute of Biogerontology, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russia
| | - Mikhail Ivanchenko
- Institute of Information Technologies, Mathematics and Mechanics, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russia
- Institute of Biogerontology, Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod, 603022, Russia
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13
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Reiner A, Bakulski KM, Fisher JD, Dou JF, Schneper L, Mitchell C, Notterman DA, Zawistowski M, Ware EB. Sex-specific DNA methylation in saliva from the multi-ethnic Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Epigenetics 2023; 18:2222244. [PMID: 37300819 PMCID: PMC10259311 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2023.2222244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The prevalence and severity of many diseases differs by sex, potentially due to sex-specific patterns in DNA methylation. Autosomal sex-specific differences in DNA methylation have been observed in cord blood and placental tissue but are not well studied in saliva or in diverse populations. We sought to characterize sex-specific DNA methylation on autosomal chromosomes in saliva samples from children in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a multi-ethnic prospective birth cohort containing an oversampling of Black, Hispanic and low-income families. DNA methylation from saliva samples was analysed on 796 children (50.6% male) at both ages 9 and 15 with DNA methylation measured using the Illumina HumanMethylation 450k array. An epigenome-wide association analysis of the age 9 samples identified 8,430 sex-differentiated autosomal DNA methylation sites (P < 2.4 × 10-7), of which 76.2% had higher DNA methylation in female children. The strongest sex-difference was in the cg26921482 probe, in the AMDHD2 gene, with 30.6% higher DNA methylation in female compared to male children (P < 1 × 10-300). Treating the age 15 samples as an internal replication set, we observed highly consistent results between the ages 9 and 15 measurements, indicating stable and replicable sex-differentiation. Further, we directly compared our results to previously published DNA methylation sex differences in both cord blood and saliva and again found strong consistency. Our findings support widespread and robust sex-differential DNA methylation across age, human tissues, and populations. These findings help inform our understanding of potential biological processes contributing to sex differences in human physiology and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison Reiner
- Department of Biostatistics and Center for Statistical Genetics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Kelly M Bakulski
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Jonah D Fisher
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - John F Dou
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Lisa Schneper
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Colter Mitchell
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Daniel A Notterman
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Matthew Zawistowski
- Department of Biostatistics and Center for Statistical Genetics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Erin B Ware
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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14
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Zhou J, Xia Y, Li M, Chen Y, Dai J, Liu C, Chen C. A higher dysregulation burden of brain DNA methylation in female patients implicated in the sex bias of Schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:4842-4852. [PMID: 37696874 PMCID: PMC10925554 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-02243-4] [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: 01/19/2023] [Revised: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/13/2023]
Abstract
Sex differences are pervasive in schizophrenia (SCZ), but the extent and magnitude of DNA methylation (DNAm) changes underlying these differences remain uncharacterized. In this study, sex-stratified differential DNAm analysis was performed in postmortem brain samples from 117 SCZ and 137 controls, partitioned into discovery and replication datasets. Three differentially methylated positions (DMPs) were identified (adj.p < 0.05) in females and 29 DMPs in males without overlap between them. Over 81% of these sex-stratified DMPs were directionally consistent between sexes but with different effect sizes. Females experienced larger magnitude of DNAm changes and more DMPs (based on data of equal sample size) than males, contributing to a higher dysregulation burden of DNAm in females SCZ. Additionally, despite similar proportions of female-related DMPs (fDMPs, 8%) being under genetic control compared with males (10%), significant enrichment of DMP-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in signals of genome-wide association studies was identified only in fDMPs. One DMP in each sex connected the SNPs and gene expression of CALHM1 in females and CCDC149 in males. PPI subnetworks revealed that both female- and male-related differential DNAm interacted with synapse-related dysregulation. Immune-related pathways were unique for females and neuron-related pathways were associated with males. This study reveals remarkable quantitative differences in DNAm-related sexual dimorphism in SCZ and that females have a higher dysregulation burden of SCZ-associated DNAm than males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaqi Zhou
- Center for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, and the Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Human Phenome Institute, and School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Yan Xia
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02114, USA.
- Analytic and Translational Genetics unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
| | - Miao Li
- Center for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, and the Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China
| | - Yu Chen
- Center for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, and the Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Jiacheng Dai
- Center for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, and the Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Human Phenome Institute, and School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Chunyu Liu
- Center for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, and the Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China.
- Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA.
| | - Chao Chen
- Center for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, and the Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China.
- Hunan Key Laboratory of Animal Models for Human Diseases, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China.
- National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China.
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China.
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15
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Homan CC, Drazer MW, Yu K, Lawrence DM, Feng J, Arriola-Martinez L, Pozsgai MJ, McNeely KE, Ha T, Venugopal P, Arts P, King-Smith SL, Cheah J, Armstrong M, Wang P, Bödör C, Cantor AB, Cazzola M, Degelman E, DiNardo CD, Duployez N, Favier R, Fröhling S, Rio-Machin A, Klco JM, Krämer A, Kurokawa M, Lee J, Malcovati L, Morgan NV, Natsoulis G, Owen C, Patel KP, Preudhomme C, Raslova H, Rienhoff H, Ripperger T, Schulte R, Tawana K, Velloso E, Yan B, Kim E, Sood R, Hsu AP, Holland SM, Phillips K, Poplawski NK, Babic M, Wei AH, Forsyth C, Mar Fan H, Lewis ID, Cooney J, Susman R, Fox LC, Blombery P, Singhal D, Hiwase D, Phipson B, Schreiber AW, Hahn CN, Scott HS, Liu P, Godley LA, Brown AL. Somatic mutational landscape of hereditary hematopoietic malignancies caused by germline variants in RUNX1, GATA2, and DDX41. Blood Adv 2023; 7:6092-6107. [PMID: 37406166 PMCID: PMC10582382 DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023010045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals with germ line variants associated with hereditary hematopoietic malignancies (HHMs) have a highly variable risk for leukemogenesis. Gaps in our understanding of premalignant states in HHMs have hampered efforts to design effective clinical surveillance programs, provide personalized preemptive treatments, and inform appropriate counseling for patients. We used the largest known comparative international cohort of germline RUNX1, GATA2, or DDX41 variant carriers without and with hematopoietic malignancies (HMs) to identify patterns of genetic drivers that are unique to each HHM syndrome before and after leukemogenesis. These patterns included striking heterogeneity in rates of early-onset clonal hematopoiesis (CH), with a high prevalence of CH in RUNX1 and GATA2 variant carriers who did not have malignancies (carriers-without HM). We observed a paucity of CH in DDX41 carriers-without HM. In RUNX1 carriers-without HM with CH, we detected variants in TET2, PHF6, and, most frequently, BCOR. These genes were recurrently mutated in RUNX1-driven malignancies, suggesting CH is a direct precursor to malignancy in RUNX1-driven HHMs. Leukemogenesis in RUNX1 and DDX41 carriers was often driven by second hits in RUNX1 and DDX41, respectively. This study may inform the development of HHM-specific clinical trials and gene-specific approaches to clinical monitoring. For example, trials investigating the potential benefits of monitoring DDX41 carriers-without HM for low-frequency second hits in DDX41 may now be beneficial. Similarly, trials monitoring carriers-without HM with RUNX1 germ line variants for the acquisition of somatic variants in BCOR, PHF6, and TET2 and second hits in RUNX1 are warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire C. Homan
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Michael W. Drazer
- Departments of Medicine and Human Genetics, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics, and The University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - Kai Yu
- Division of Intramural Research, Oncogenesis and Development Section, Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - David M. Lawrence
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- ACRF Genomics Facility, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Jinghua Feng
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- ACRF Genomics Facility, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Luis Arriola-Martinez
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Matthew J. Pozsgai
- Departments of Medicine and Human Genetics, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics, and The University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - Kelsey E. McNeely
- Departments of Medicine and Human Genetics, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics, and The University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - Thuong Ha
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Parvathy Venugopal
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Peer Arts
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Sarah L. King-Smith
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Jesse Cheah
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Mark Armstrong
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Paul Wang
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- ACRF Genomics Facility, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Csaba Bödör
- HCEMM-SE Molecular Oncohematology Research Group, 1st Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Alan B. Cantor
- Division of Hematology/Oncology, Boston Children's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Mario Cazzola
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Department of Hematology Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy
| | - Erin Degelman
- Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Courtney D. DiNardo
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
| | - Nicolas Duployez
- Laboratory of Hematology, Biology and Pathology Center, Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire de Lille, Lille, France
- Jean-Pierre Aubert Research Center, INSERM, Universitaire de Lille, Lille, France
| | - Remi Favier
- Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Armand Trousseau Children's Hospital, Paris, France
| | - Stefan Fröhling
- Department of Translational Medical Oncology, National Center for Tumor Diseases and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ana Rio-Machin
- Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Alwin Krämer
- Clinical Cooperation Unit Molecular Hematology/Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Department of Internal Medicine V, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Mineo Kurokawa
- Department of Hematology & Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Joanne Lee
- Department of Haematology-Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, National University Health System, Singapore
| | - Luca Malcovati
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Department of Hematology Oncology, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy
| | - Neil V. Morgan
- Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | | | - Carolyn Owen
- Division of Hematology and Hematological Malignancies, Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Keyur P. Patel
- Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
| | - Claude Preudhomme
- Laboratory of Hematology, Biology and Pathology Center, Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire de Lille, Lille, France
- Jean-Pierre Aubert Research Center, INSERM, Universitaire de Lille, Lille, France
| | - Hana Raslova
- Institut Gustave Roussy, Université Paris Sud, Equipe Labellisée par la Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer, Villejuif, France
| | | | - Tim Ripperger
- Department of Human Genetics, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Rachael Schulte
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Riley Children’s Hospital, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
| | - Kiran Tawana
- Department of Haematology, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Elvira Velloso
- Service of Hematology, Transfusion and Cell Therapy and Laboratory of Medical Investigation in Pathogenesis and Directed Therapy in Onco-Immuno-Hematology (LIM-31) HCFMUSP, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Genetics Laboratory, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Benedict Yan
- Department of Haematology-Oncology, National University Cancer Institute, National University Health System, Singapore
| | - Erika Kim
- National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD
| | - Raman Sood
- Division of Intramural Research, Oncogenesis and Development Section, Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | | | - Amy P. Hsu
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Steven M. Holland
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Kerry Phillips
- Adult Genetics Unit, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Nicola K. Poplawski
- Adult Genetics Unit, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia
- Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Milena Babic
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Andrew H. Wei
- Department of Haematology, Peter McCallum Cancer Centre, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Cecily Forsyth
- Central Coast Haematology, North Gosford, NSW, Australia
| | - Helen Mar Fan
- Department of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Ian D. Lewis
- Adelaide Oncology & Haematology, North Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Julian Cooney
- Department of Haematology, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch, WA, Australia
| | - Rachel Susman
- Genetic Health Queensland, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Lucy C. Fox
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Piers Blombery
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Deepak Singhal
- Department of Haematology, SA Pathology, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Devendra Hiwase
- Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
- Department of Haematology, SA Pathology, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Belinda Phipson
- Bioinformatics Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Paediatrics and Department of Molecular Biology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Andreas W. Schreiber
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- ACRF Genomics Facility, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Christopher N. Hahn
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Hamish S. Scott
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- ACRF Genomics Facility, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
- Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Paul Liu
- Division of Intramural Research, Oncogenesis and Development Section, Translational and Functional Genomics Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
| | - Lucy A. Godley
- Departments of Medicine and Human Genetics, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics, and The University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - Anna L. Brown
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Pathology, Centre for Cancer Biology, An alliance between SA Pathology and the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
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16
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Crochemore C, Chica C, Garagnani P, Lattanzi G, Horvath S, Sarasin A, Franceschi C, Bacalini MG, Ricchetti M. Epigenomic signature of accelerated ageing in progeroid Cockayne syndrome. Aging Cell 2023; 22:e13959. [PMID: 37688320 PMCID: PMC10577576 DOI: 10.1111/acel.13959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 07/16/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Cockayne syndrome (CS) and UV-sensitive syndrome (UVSS) are rare genetic disorders caused by mutation of the DNA repair and multifunctional CSA or CSB protein, but only CS patients display a progeroid and neurodegenerative phenotype, providing a unique conceptual and experimental paradigm. As DNA methylation (DNAm) remodelling is a major ageing marker, we performed genome-wide analysis of DNAm of fibroblasts from healthy, UVSS and CS individuals. Differential analysis highlighted a CS-specific epigenomic signature (progeroid-related; not present in UVSS) enriched in three categories: developmental transcription factors, ion/neurotransmitter membrane transporters and synaptic neuro-developmental genes. A large fraction of CS-specific DNAm changes were associated with expression changes in CS samples, including in previously reported post-mortem cerebella. The progeroid phenotype of CS was further supported by epigenomic hallmarks of ageing: the prediction of DNAm of repetitive elements suggested an hypomethylation of Alu sequences in CS, and the epigenetic clock returned a marked increase in CS biological age respect to healthy and UVSS cells. The epigenomic remodelling of accelerated ageing in CS displayed both commonalities and differences with other progeroid diseases and regular ageing. CS shared DNAm changes with normal ageing more than other progeroid diseases do, and included genes functionally validated for regular ageing. Collectively, our results support the existence of an epigenomic basis of accelerated ageing in CS and unveil new genes and pathways that are potentially associated with the progeroid/degenerative phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clément Crochemore
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Molecular Mechanisms of Pathological and Physiological Ageing Unit, UMR3738 CNRSParisFrance
- Institut Pasteur, Team Stability of Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA, Stem Cells and Development, UMR3738 CNRSParisFrance
- Sup'BiotechVillejuifFrance
| | - Claudia Chica
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics HubParisFrance
| | - Paolo Garagnani
- IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero‐Universitaria di BolognaBolognaItaly
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences (DIMEC)University of BolognaBolognaItaly
| | - Giovanna Lattanzi
- CNR Institute of Molecular Genetics “Luigi Luca Cavalli‐Sforza”, Unit of BolognaBolognaItaly
- IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico RizzoliBolognaItaly
| | - Steve Horvath
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of MedicineUniversity of CaliforniaLos AngelesUSA
- Department of Biostatistics Fielding School of Public HealthUniversity of CaliforniaLos AngelesUSA
| | - Alain Sarasin
- Laboratory of Genetic Stability and Oncogenesis, Institut de Cancérologie Gustave RoussyUniversity Paris‐SudVillejuifFrance
| | - Claudio Franceschi
- Institute of Information Technologies, Mathematics and MechanicsLobachevsky UniversityNizhniy NovgorodRussia
| | | | - Miria Ricchetti
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Molecular Mechanisms of Pathological and Physiological Ageing Unit, UMR3738 CNRSParisFrance
- Institut Pasteur, Team Stability of Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA, Stem Cells and Development, UMR3738 CNRSParisFrance
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17
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Wiese CB, Avetisyan R, Reue K. The impact of chromosomal sex on cardiometabolic health and disease. Trends Endocrinol Metab 2023; 34:652-665. [PMID: 37598068 PMCID: PMC11090013 DOI: 10.1016/j.tem.2023.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/21/2023]
Abstract
Many aspects of metabolism are sex-biased, from gene expression in metabolic tissues to the prevalence and presentation of cardiometabolic diseases. The influence of hormones produced by male and female gonads has been widely documented, but recent studies have begun to elucidate the impact of genetic sex (XX or XY chromosomes) on cellular and organismal metabolism. XX and XY cells have differential gene dosage conferred by specific genes that escape X chromosome inactivation or the presence of Y chromosome genes that are absent from XX cells. Studies in mouse models that dissociate chromosomal and gonadal sex have uncovered mechanisms for sex-biased epigenetic, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in conditions such as obesity, atherosclerosis, pulmonary hypertension, autoimmune disease, and Alzheimer's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie B Wiese
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Rozeta Avetisyan
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Karen Reue
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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18
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Sommer AJ, Okonkwo J, Monteiro J, Bind MAC. A permutation-based approach using a rank-based statistic to identify sex differences in epigenetics. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14838. [PMID: 37684282 PMCID: PMC10491832 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41360-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic sex differences and their resulting implications for human health have been studied for about a decade. The objective of this paper is to use permutation-based inference and a new ranked-based test statistic to identify sex-based epigenetic differences in the human DNA methylome. In particular, we examine whether we could identify separations between the female and male distributions of DNA methylation across hundred of thousands CpG sites in two independent cohorts, the Swedish Adoption Twin study and the Lamarck study. Based on Fisherian p-values, we set a threshold for methylation differences "worth further scrutiny". At this threshold, we were able to confirm previously-found CpG sites that stratify with respect to sex. These CpG sites with sex differences in DNA methylation should be further investigated for their possible contribution to various physiological and pathological functions in the human body. We followed-up our statistical analyses with a literature review in order to inform the proposed disease implications for the loci we uncovered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice J Sommer
- Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry, and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University München, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Jude Okonkwo
- Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jonathan Monteiro
- Department of Biostatistics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marie-Abèle C Bind
- Department of Biostatistics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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19
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Doshi B, Athans SR, Woloszynska A. Biological differences underlying sex and gender disparities in bladder cancer: current synopsis and future directions. Oncogenesis 2023; 12:44. [PMID: 37666817 PMCID: PMC10477245 DOI: 10.1038/s41389-023-00489-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Revised: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Sex and gender disparities in bladder cancer have long been a subject of interest to the cancer research community, wherein men have a 4 times higher incidence rate than women, and female patients often present with higher-grade disease and experience worse outcomes. Despite the known differences in disease incidence and clinical outcomes between male and female bladder cancer patients, clinical management remains the same. In this review, we critically analyze studies that report on the biological differences between men and women and evaluate how these differences contribute to sex and gender disparities in bladder cancer. Distinct characteristics of the male and female immune systems, differences in circulating hormone levels and hormone receptor expression, and different genetic and epigenetic alterations are major biological factors that all likely contribute to disparate incidence rates and outcomes for male and female bladder cancer patients. Future preclinical and clinical studies in this area should employ experimental approaches that account for and consider sex and gender disparities in bladder cancer, thereby facilitating the development of precision medicine for the effective treatment of bladder cancer in all patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhavisha Doshi
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Sarah R Athans
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA
| | - Anna Woloszynska
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA.
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20
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Santos HP, Enggasser AE, Clark J, Roell K, Zhabotynsky V, Gower WA, Yanni D, Yang NG, Washburn L, Gogcu S, Marsit CJ, Kuban K, O'Shea TM, Fry RC. Sexually dimorphic methylation patterns characterize the placenta and blood from extremely preterm newborns. BMC Biol 2023; 21:173. [PMID: 37608375 PMCID: PMC10464100 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01662-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Health outcomes among children born prematurely are known to be sexually dimorphic, with male infants often more affected, yet the mechanism behind this observation is not clear. CpG methylation levels in the placenta and blood also differ by sex and are associated with adverse health outcomes. We contrasted CpG methylation levels in the placenta and neonatal blood (n = 358) from the Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborn (ELGAN) cohort based on the EPIC array, which assays over 850,000 CpG sites across the epigenome. Sex-specific epigenome-wide association analyses were conducted for the placenta and neonatal blood samples independently, and the results were compared to determine tissue-specific differences between the methylation patterns in males and females. All models were adjusted for cell type heterogeneity. Enrichment pathway analysis was performed to identify the biological functions of genes related to the sexually dimorphic CpG sites. RESULTS Approximately 11,500 CpG sites were differentially methylated in relation to sex. Of these, 5949 were placenta-specific and 5361 were blood-specific, with only 233 CpG sites overlapping in both tissues. For placenta-specific CpG sites, 90% were hypermethylated in males. For blood-specific CpG sites, 95% were hypermethylated in females. In the placenta, keratinocyte differentiation biological pathways were enriched among the differentially methylated genes. No enrichment pathways were observed for blood. CONCLUSIONS Distinct methylation patterns were observed between male and female children born extremely premature, and keratinocyte differentiation pathways were enriched in the placenta. These findings provide new insights into the epigenetic mechanisms underlying sexually dimorphic health outcomes among extremely premature infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hudson P Santos
- School of Nursing and Health Studies, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.
| | - Adam E Enggasser
- Gillings School of Global Public Health, Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jeliyah Clark
- Gillings School of Global Public Health, Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Kyle Roell
- Gillings School of Global Public Health, Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Vasyl Zhabotynsky
- Gillings School of Global Public Health, Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - William Adam Gower
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Diana Yanni
- Department of Neonatology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nou Gao Yang
- Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Lisa Washburn
- Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Semsa Gogcu
- Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Carmen J Marsit
- Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Karl Kuban
- Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Boston. University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - T Michael O'Shea
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Rebecca C Fry
- Gillings School of Global Public Health, Institute for Environmental Health Solutions, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Curriculum in Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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21
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Khramtsova EA, Wilson MA, Martin J, Winham SJ, He KY, Davis LK, Stranger BE. Quality control and analytic best practices for testing genetic models of sex differences in large populations. Cell 2023; 186:2044-2061. [PMID: 37172561 PMCID: PMC10266536 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Phenotypic sex-based differences exist for many complex traits. In other cases, phenotypes may be similar, but underlying biology may vary. Thus, sex-aware genetic analyses are becoming increasingly important for understanding the mechanisms driving these differences. To this end, we provide a guide outlining the current best practices for testing various models of sex-dependent genetic effects in complex traits and disease conditions, noting that this is an evolving field. Insights from sex-aware analyses will not only teach us about the biology of complex traits but also aid in achieving the goals of precision medicine and health equity for all.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ekaterina A Khramtsova
- Population Analytics and Insights, Data Science Analytics & Insights, Janssen R&D, Lower Gwynedd Township, PA, USA.
| | - Melissa A Wilson
- School of Life Sciences, Center for Evolution and Medicine, Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85282, USA
| | - Joanna Martin
- Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Stacey J Winham
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Division of Computational Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Karen Y He
- Population Analytics and Insights, Data Science Analytics & Insights, Janssen R&D, Lower Gwynedd Township, PA, USA
| | - Lea K Davis
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Barbara E Stranger
- Center for Genetic Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
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22
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Romanowska J, Nustad HE, Page CM, Denault WRP, Lee Y, Magnus MC, Haftorn KL, Gjerdevik M, Novakovic B, Saffery R, Gjessing HK, Lyle R, Magnus P, Håberg SE, Jugessur A. The X-factor in ART: does the use of assisted reproductive technologies influence DNA methylation on the X chromosome? Hum Genomics 2023; 17:35. [PMID: 37085889 PMCID: PMC10122315 DOI: 10.1186/s40246-023-00484-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) may perturb DNA methylation (DNAm) in early embryonic development. Although a handful of epigenome-wide association studies of ART have been published, none have investigated CpGs on the X chromosome. To bridge this knowledge gap, we leveraged one of the largest collections of mother-father-newborn trios of ART and non-ART (natural) conceptions to date to investigate sex-specific DNAm differences on the X chromosome. The discovery cohort consisted of 982 ART and 963 non-ART trios from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). To verify our results from the MoBa cohort, we used an external cohort of 149 ART and 58 non-ART neonates from the Australian 'Clinical review of the Health of adults conceived following Assisted Reproductive Technologies' (CHART) study. The Illumina EPIC array was used to measure DNAm in both datasets. In the MoBa cohort, we performed a set of X-chromosome-wide association studies ('XWASs' hereafter) to search for sex-specific DNAm differences between ART and non-ART newborns. We tested several models to investigate the influence of various confounders, including parental DNAm. We also searched for differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and regions of co-methylation flanking the most significant CpGs. Additionally, we ran an analogous model to our main model on the external CHART dataset. RESULTS In the MoBa cohort, we found more differentially methylated CpGs and DMRs in girls than boys. Most of the associations persisted after controlling for parental DNAm and other confounders. Many of the significant CpGs and DMRs were in gene-promoter regions, and several of the genes linked to these CpGs are expressed in tissues relevant for both ART and sex (testis, placenta, and fallopian tube). We found no support for parental DNAm-dependent features as an explanation for the observed associations in the newborns. The most significant CpG in the boys-only analysis was in UBE2DNL, which is expressed in testes but with unknown function. The most significant CpGs in the girls-only analysis were in EIF2S3 and AMOT. These three loci also displayed differential DNAm in the CHART cohort. CONCLUSIONS Genes that co-localized with the significant CpGs and DMRs associated with ART are implicated in several key biological processes (e.g., neurodevelopment) and disorders (e.g., intellectual disability and autism). These connections are particularly compelling in light of previous findings indicating that neurodevelopmental outcomes differ in ART-conceived children compared to those naturally conceived.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Romanowska
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
- Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
| | - Haakon E Nustad
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- DeepInsight, 0154, Oslo, Norway
| | - Christian M Page
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - William R P Denault
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Yunsung Lee
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Maria C Magnus
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Kristine L Haftorn
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Miriam Gjerdevik
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway
| | - Boris Novakovic
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Richard Saffery
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Håkon K Gjessing
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Robert Lyle
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital and University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Per Magnus
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Siri E Håberg
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Astanand Jugessur
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
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23
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Dimasi CG, Darby JRT, Morrison JL. A change of heart: understanding the mechanisms regulating cardiac proliferation and metabolism before and after birth. J Physiol 2023; 601:1319-1341. [PMID: 36872609 PMCID: PMC10952280 DOI: 10.1113/jp284137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 03/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Mammalian cardiomyocytes undergo major maturational changes in preparation for birth and postnatal life. Immature cardiomyocytes contribute to cardiac growth via proliferation and thus the heart has the capacity to regenerate. To prepare for postnatal life, structural and metabolic changes associated with increased cardiac output and function must occur. This includes exit from the cell cycle, hypertrophic growth, mitochondrial maturation and sarcomeric protein isoform switching. However, these changes come at a price: the loss of cardiac regenerative capacity such that damage to the heart in postnatal life is permanent. This is a significant barrier to the development of new treatments for cardiac repair and contributes to heart failure. The transitional period of cardiomyocyte growth is a complex and multifaceted event. In this review, we focus on studies that have investigated this critical transition period as well as novel factors that may regulate and drive this process. We also discuss the potential use of new biomarkers for the detection of myocardial infarction and, in the broader sense, cardiovascular disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine G. Dimasi
- Early Origins of Adult Health Research Group, Health and Biomedical Innovation, UniSA: Clinical and Health SciencesUniversity of South AustraliaAdelaideSAAustralia
| | - Jack R. T. Darby
- Early Origins of Adult Health Research Group, Health and Biomedical Innovation, UniSA: Clinical and Health SciencesUniversity of South AustraliaAdelaideSAAustralia
| | - Janna L. Morrison
- Early Origins of Adult Health Research Group, Health and Biomedical Innovation, UniSA: Clinical and Health SciencesUniversity of South AustraliaAdelaideSAAustralia
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24
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Miller RAJ, Williams AP, Kovats S. Sex chromosome complement and sex steroid signaling underlie sex differences in immunity to respiratory virus infection. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1150282. [PMID: 37063266 PMCID: PMC10097973 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1150282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 04/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Epidemiological studies have revealed sex differences in the incidence and morbidity of respiratory virus infection in the human population, and often these observations are correlated with sex differences in the quality or magnitude of the immune response. Sex differences in immunity and morbidity also are observed in animal models of respiratory virus infection, suggesting differential dominance of specific immune mechanisms. Emerging research shows intrinsic sex differences in immune cell transcriptomes, epigenomes, and proteomes that may regulate human immunity when challenged by viral infection. Here, we highlight recent research into the role(s) of sex steroids and X chromosome complement in immune cells and describe how these findings provide insight into immunity during respiratory virus infection. We focus on the regulation of innate and adaptive immune cells by receptors for androgen and estrogens, as well as genes with a propensity to escape X chromosome inactivation. A deeper mechanistic knowledge of these pathways will help us to understand the often significant sex differences in immunity to endemic or pandemic respiratory pathogens such as influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial viruses and pathogenic coronaviruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reegan A. J. Miller
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Abigael P. Williams
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Susan Kovats
- Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
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25
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Hu J, Xu X, Li J, Jiang Y, Hong X, Rexrode KM, Wang G, Hu FB, Zhang H, Karmaus WJ, Wang X, Liang L. Sex differences in the intergenerational link between maternal and neonatal whole blood DNA methylation: a genome-wide analysis in 2 birth cohorts. Clin Epigenetics 2023; 15:51. [PMID: 36966332 PMCID: PMC10040137 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-023-01442-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The mother-child inheritance of DNA methylation (DNAm) variations could contribute to the inheritance of disease susceptibility across generations. However, no study has investigated patterns of mother-child associations in DNAm at the genome-wide scale. It remains unknown whether there are sex differences in mother-child DNAm associations. RESULTS Using genome-wide DNAm profiling data (721,331 DNAm sites, including 704,552 on autosomes and 16,779 on the X chromosome) of 396 mother-newborn pairs (54.5% male) from the Boston Birth Cohort, we found significant sex differences in mother-newborn correlations in genome-wide DNAm patterns (Spearman's rho = 0.91-0.98; p = 4.0 × 10-8), with female newborns having stronger correlations. Sex differences in correlations were attenuated but remained significant after excluding X-chromosomal DNAm sites (Spearman's rho = 0.91-0.98; p = 0.035). Moreover, 89,267 DNAm sites (12.4% of all analyzed, including 88,051 [12.5% of analyzed] autosomal and 1,216 [7.2% of analyzed] X-chromosomal sites) showed significant mother-newborn associations in methylation levels, and the top autosomal DNAm sites had high heritability than the genome-wide background (e.g., the top 100 autosomal DNAm sites had a medium h2 of 0.92). Additionally, significant interactions between newborn sex and methylation levels were observed for 11 X-chromosomal and 4 autosomal DNAm sites that were mapped to genes that have been associated with sex-specific disease/traits or early development (e.g., EFHC2, NXY, ADCYAP1R1, and BMP4). Finally, 18,769 DNAm sites (14,482 [77.2%] on the X chromosome) showed mother-newborn differences in methylation levels that were significantly associated with newborn sex, and the top autosomal DNAm sites had relatively small heritability (e.g., the top 100 autosomal DNAm sites had a medium h2 of 0.23). These DNAm sites were mapped to 2,532 autosomal genes and 978 X-chromosomal genes with significant enrichment in pathways involved in neurodegenerative and psychological diseases, development, neurophysiological process, immune response, and sex-specific cancers. Replication analysis in the Isle of Wight birth cohort yielded consistent results. CONCLUSION In two independent birth cohorts, we demonstrated strong mother-newborn correlations in whole blood DNAm on both autosomes and ChrX, and such correlations vary substantially by sex. Future studies are needed to examine to what extent our findings contribute to developmental origins of pediatric and adult diseases with well-observed sex differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Hu
- Division of Women's Health, Department of Medicine, Bigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Building 2, Room 207, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Xin Xu
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Building 2, Room 207, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Jun Li
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Building 2, Room 207, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yu Jiang
- Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, & Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Xiumei Hong
- Center On the Early Life Origins of Disease, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kathryn M Rexrode
- Division of Women's Health, Department of Medicine, Bigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Guoying Wang
- Center On the Early Life Origins of Disease, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Frank B Hu
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Building 2, Room 207, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Hongmei Zhang
- Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, & Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Wilfried J Karmaus
- Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, & Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Xiaobin Wang
- Center On the Early Life Origins of Disease, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Liming Liang
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Building 2, Room 207, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
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26
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Genetics and epigenetics of primary Sjögren syndrome: implications for future therapies. Nat Rev Rheumatol 2023; 19:288-306. [PMID: 36914790 PMCID: PMC10010657 DOI: 10.1038/s41584-023-00932-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023]
Abstract
In primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS), chronic inflammation of exocrine glands results in tissue destruction and sicca symptoms, primarily of the mouth and eyes. Fatigue, arthralgia and myalgia are also common symptoms, whereas extraglandular manifestations that involve the respiratory, nervous and vascular systems occur in a subset of patients. The disease predominantly affects women, with an estimated female to male ratio of 14 to 1. The aetiology of pSS, however, remains incompletely understood, and effective treatment is lacking. Large-scale genetic and epigenetic investigations have revealed associations between pSS and genes in both innate and adaptive immune pathways. The genetic variants mediate context-dependent effects, and both sex and environmental factors can influence the outcome. As such, genetic and epigenetic studies can provide insight into the dysregulated molecular mechanisms, which in turn might reveal new therapeutic possibilities. This Review discusses the genetic and epigenetic features that have been robustly connected with pSS, putting them into the context of cellular function, carrier sex and environmental challenges. In all, the observations point to several novel opportunities for early detection, treatment development and the pathway towards personalized medicine.
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27
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Arfmann W, Achenbach J, Meyer-Bockenkamp F, Proskynitopoulos PJ, Groh A, Muschler MAN, Glahn A, Hagemeier L, Preuss V, Klintschar M, Frieling H, Rhein M. Comparing DRD2 Promoter Methylation Between Blood and Brain in Alcohol Dependence. Alcohol Alcohol 2023; 58:216-223. [PMID: 36747480 DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agad005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2022] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
AIMS The dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) is substantially involved in several forms of addiction. In addition to genetic polymorphisms, epigenetic mechanisms have emerged as an important means of regulation. Previously, DRD2 hypo- and hyper-methylation have been observed in alcohol use disorder (AUD). Blood samples are commonly used as a surrogate marker of epigenetic alterations in epigenetic research, but few specific comparisons between blood and brain tissue samples in AUD exist. METHODS We used post-mortem brain tissue samples of 17 deceased patients with AUD and 31 deceased controls to investigate the relationship between blood and brain methylation of the DRD2 promoter. RESULTS When investigating individual cytosine methylation sites (CpG), several significant differences were found in the nucleus accumbens and hippocampus in the study population. Investigating binding sites with significant differences in methylation levels revealed hypomethylated CpGs targeting mainly activating transcription factors. CONCLUSION These findings support an altered transcription of the DRD2 gene in AUD specimens with a consecutively changed reward response in the brain. While methylation between specific brain regions and blood is comparable, our study further suggests that blood methylation cannot provide meaningful perspectives on DRD2 promoter methylation in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wiebke Arfmann
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Johannes Achenbach
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
- Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Pain Clinic, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Fiona Meyer-Bockenkamp
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Phileas J Proskynitopoulos
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Adrian Groh
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Marc A N Muschler
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Alexander Glahn
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Lars Hagemeier
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Vanessa Preuss
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Michael Klintschar
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Helge Frieling
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - Mathias Rhein
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
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Chen C, Zhou J, Xia Y, Li M, Chen Y, Dai J, Liu C. A Higher Dysregulation Burden of Brain DNA Methylation in Female Patients Implicated in the Sex Bias of Schizophrenia. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-2496133. [PMID: 36778507 PMCID: PMC9915764 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2496133/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Sex differences are pervasive in schizophrenia (SCZ), but the extent and magnitude of DNA methylation (DNAm) changes underlying these differences remain uncharacterized. In this study, sex-stratified differential DNAm analysis was performed in postmortem brain samples from 117 SCZ and 137 controls, partitioned into discovery and replication datasets. Three differentially methylated positions (DMPs) were identified (adj. p < 0.05) in females and 29 DMPs in males without overlap between them. Over 81% of these sex-stratified DMPs were directionally consistent between sexes but with different effect sizes. Down-sampling analysis revealed more DMPs in females than in males when the sample sizes matched. Females had higher DNAm levels in healthy individuals and larger magnitude of DNAm changes in patients than males. Despite similar proportions of female-related DMPs (fDMPs, 8%) being under genetic control compared with males (10%), significant enrichment of DMP-related SNPs in signals of genome-wide association studies was identified only in fDMPs. One DMP in each sex connected the SNPs and gene expression of CALHM1 in females and CCDC149 in males. PPI subnetworks revealed that both female- and male-related differential DNAm interacted with synapse-related dysregulation. Immune-related pathways were unique for females and neuron-related pathways were associated with males. This study reveals remarkable quantitative differences in DNAm-related sexual dimorphism in SCZ and that females have a higher dysregulation burden of SCZ-associated DNAm than males.
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29
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Iannuzzi V, Bacalini MG, Franceschi C, Giuliani C. The role of genetics and epigenetics in sex differences in human survival. GENUS 2023. [DOI: 10.1186/s41118-023-00181-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
AbstractSex differences in human survival have been extensively investigated in many studies that have in part uncovered the biological determinants that promote a longer life in females with respect to males. Moreover, researches performed in the past years have prompted increased awareness about the biological effects of environmental factors that can modulate the magnitude of the sex gap in survival. Besides the genetic background, epigenetic modifications like DNA methylation, that can modulate cell function, have been particularly studied in this framework. In this review, we aim to summarize the role of the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in promoting female advantage from the early in life (“INNATE” features), and in influencing the magnitude of the gap in sex differences in survival and ageing (“VARIABLE” features). After briefly discussing the biological bases of sex determination in humans, we will provide much evidence showing that (i) “innate” mechanisms common to all males and to all females (both genetic and epigenetic) play a major role in sex differences in lifespan; (ii) “variable” genetic and epigenetic patterns, that vary according to context, populations and exposures to different environments, can affect the magnitude of the gap in sex differences in survival. Then we will describe recent findings in the use of epigenetic clocks to uncover sex differences in biological age and thus potentially in mortality. In conclusion, we will discuss how environmental factors cannot be kept apart from the biological factors providing evidence from the field of human ecology.
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30
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Tomeva E, Krammer UDB, Switzeny OJ, Haslberger AG, Hippe B. Sex-Specific miRNA Differences in Liquid Biopsies from Subjects with Solid Tumors and Healthy Controls. EPIGENOMES 2023; 7:epigenomes7010002. [PMID: 36648863 PMCID: PMC9844450 DOI: 10.3390/epigenomes7010002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Revised: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 01/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Dysregulation of epigenetic mechanisms has been recognized to play a crucial role in cancer development, but these mechanisms vary between sexes. Therefore, we focused on sex-specific differences in the context of cancer-based data from a recent study. A total of 12 cell-free DNA methylation targets in CpG-rich promoter regions and 48 miRNAs were analyzed by qPCR in plasma samples from 8 female and 7 male healthy controls as well as 48 female and 80 male subjects with solid tumors of the bladder, brain, colorectal region (CRC), lung, stomach, pancreas, and liver. Due to the small sample size in some groups and/or the non-balanced distribution of men and women, sex-specific differences were evaluated statistically only in healthy subjects, CRC, stomach or pancreas cancer patients, and all cancer subjects combined (n female/male-8/7, 14/14, 8/15, 6/6, 48/80, respectively). Several miRNAs with opposing expressions between the sexes were observed for healthy subjects (miR-17-5p, miR-26b-5p); CRC patients (miR-186-5p, miR-22-3p, miR-22-5p, miR-25-3p, miR-92a-3p, miR-16-5p); stomach cancer patients (miR-133a-3p, miR-22-5p); and all cancer patients combined (miR-126-3p, miR-21-5p, miR-92a-3p, miR-183-5p). Moreover, sex-specific correlations that were dependent on cancer stage were observed in women (miR-27a-3p) and men (miR-17-5p, miR-20a-5p). Our results indicate the complex and distinct role of epigenetic regulation, particularly miRNAs, depending not only on the health status but also on the sex of the patient. The same miRNAs could have diverse effects in different tissues and opposing effects between the biological sexes, which should be considered in biomarker research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ulrike D. B. Krammer
- HealthBioCare GmbH, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
- Department of Nutritional Science, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | | | | | - Berit Hippe
- HealthBioCare GmbH, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
- Department of Nutritional Science, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
- Correspondence:
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31
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Inkster AM, Wong MT, Matthews AM, Brown CJ, Robinson WP. Who's afraid of the X? Incorporating the X and Y chromosomes into the analysis of DNA methylation array data. Epigenetics Chromatin 2023; 16:1. [PMID: 36609459 PMCID: PMC9825011 DOI: 10.1186/s13072-022-00477-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Many human disease phenotypes manifest differently by sex, making the development of methods for incorporating X and Y-chromosome data into analyses vital. Unfortunately, X and Y chromosome data are frequently excluded from large-scale analyses of the human genome and epigenome due to analytical complexity associated with sex chromosome dosage differences between XX and XY individuals, and the impact of X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) on the epigenome. As such, little attention has been given to considering the methods by which sex chromosome data may be included in analyses of DNA methylation (DNAme) array data. RESULTS With Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 DNAme array data from 634 placental samples, we investigated the effects of probe filtering, normalization, and batch correction on DNAme data from the X and Y chromosomes. Processing steps were evaluated in both mixed-sex and sex-stratified subsets of the analysis cohort to identify whether including both sexes impacted processing results. We found that identification of probes that have a high detection p-value, or that are non-variable, should be performed in sex-stratified data subsets to avoid over- and under-estimation of the quantity of probes eligible for removal, respectively. All normalization techniques investigated returned X and Y DNAme data that were highly correlated with the raw data from the same samples. We found no difference in batch correction results after application to mixed-sex or sex-stratified cohorts. Additionally, we identify two analytical methods suitable for XY chromosome data, the choice between which should be guided by the research question of interest, and we performed a proof-of-concept analysis studying differential DNAme on the X and Y chromosome in the context of placental acute chorioamnionitis. Finally, we provide an annotation of probe types that may be desirable to filter in X and Y chromosome analyses, including probes in repetitive elements, the X-transposed region, and cancer-testis gene promoters. CONCLUSION While there may be no single "best" approach for analyzing DNAme array data from the X and Y chromosome, analysts must consider key factors during processing and analysis of sex chromosome data to accommodate the underlying biology of these chromosomes, and the technical limitations of DNA methylation arrays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy M Inkster
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, 950 W 28th Ave, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3N1, Canada.
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, 4500 Oak St, Vancouver, V6H 3N1, Canada.
| | - Martin T Wong
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, 4500 Oak St, Vancouver, V6H 3N1, Canada
| | - Allison M Matthews
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, 950 W 28th Ave, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3N1, Canada
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, V6T 1Z7, Canada
| | - Carolyn J Brown
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, 4500 Oak St, Vancouver, V6H 3N1, Canada
| | - Wendy P Robinson
- BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, 950 W 28th Ave, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3N1, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, 4500 Oak St, Vancouver, V6H 3N1, Canada
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Bergstedt J, Azzou SAK, Tsuo K, Jaquaniello A, Urrutia A, Rotival M, Lin DTS, MacIsaac JL, Kobor MS, Albert ML, Duffy D, Patin E, Quintana-Murci L. The immune factors driving DNA methylation variation in human blood. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5895. [PMID: 36202838 PMCID: PMC9537159 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33511-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic changes are required for normal development, yet the nature and respective contribution of factors that drive epigenetic variation in humans remain to be fully characterized. Here, we assessed how the blood DNA methylome of 884 adults is affected by DNA sequence variation, age, sex and 139 factors relating to life habits and immunity. Furthermore, we investigated whether these effects are mediated or not by changes in cellular composition, measured by deep immunophenotyping. We show that DNA methylation differs substantially between naïve and memory T cells, supporting the need for adjustment on these cell-types. By doing so, we find that latent cytomegalovirus infection drives DNA methylation variation and provide further support that the increased dispersion of DNA methylation with aging is due to epigenetic drift. Finally, our results indicate that cellular composition and DNA sequence variation are the strongest predictors of DNA methylation, highlighting critical factors for medical epigenomics studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob Bergstedt
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Human Evolutionary Genetics Unit, Paris, France.
- Unit of Integrative Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Sadoune Ait Kaci Azzou
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Human Evolutionary Genetics Unit, Paris, France
| | - Kristin Tsuo
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Human Evolutionary Genetics Unit, Paris, France
| | - Anthony Jaquaniello
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Human Evolutionary Genetics Unit, Paris, France
| | | | - Maxime Rotival
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Human Evolutionary Genetics Unit, Paris, France
| | - David T S Lin
- Edwin S.H. Leong Healthy Aging Program, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Julia L MacIsaac
- Edwin S.H. Leong Healthy Aging Program, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Michael S Kobor
- Edwin S.H. Leong Healthy Aging Program, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | | | - Darragh Duffy
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Translational Immunology Unit, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Etienne Patin
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Human Evolutionary Genetics Unit, Paris, France.
| | - Lluís Quintana-Murci
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR2000, Human Evolutionary Genetics Unit, Paris, France.
- Chair of Human Genomics and Evolution, Collège de France, Paris, France.
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Freni-Sterrantino A, Fiorito G, d’Errico A, Virtanen M, Ala-Mursula L, Järvelin MR, Vineis P, Robinson O. Association between work characteristics and epigenetic age acceleration: cross-sectional results from UK - Understanding Society study. Aging (Albany NY) 2022; 14:7752-7773. [PMID: 36202116 PMCID: PMC9596217 DOI: 10.18632/aging.204327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Occupation-related stress and work characteristics are possible determinants of social inequalities in epigenetic aging but have been little investigated. Here, we investigate the association of several work characteristics with epigenetic age acceleration (AA) biomarkers. The study population included employed and unemployed men and women (n = 631) from the UK Understanding Society study. We evaluated the association of employment and work characteristics related to job type, job stability; job schedule; autonomy and influence at work; occupational physical activity; and feelings regarding the job with four epigenetic age acceleration biomarkers (Hannum, Horvath, PhenoAge, GrimAge) and pace of aging (DunedinPoAm, DunedinPACE). We fitted linear regression models, unadjusted and adjusted for established risk factors, and found the following associations for unemployment (years of acceleration): HorvathAA (1.51, 95% CI 0.08, 2.95), GrimAgeAA (1.53, 95% CI 0.16, 2.90) and 3.21 years for PhenoAA (95% CI 0.89, 5.33). Job insecurity increased PhenoAA (1.83, 95% CI 0.003, 3.67), while working at night was associated with an increase of 2.12 years in GrimAgeAA (95% CI 0.69, 3.55). We found effects of unemployment to be stronger in men and effects of night shift work to be stronger in women. These results provide evidence of associations between unemployment with accelerated ageing and suggest that insecure employment and night work may also increase age acceleration. Our findings have implications for policies relating to current changes in working conditions and highlight the utility of biological age biomarkers in studies in younger populations without long-term health information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Freni-Sterrantino
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom,The Alan Turing Institute, John Dodson House, London NW1 2DB, United Kingdom
| | - Giovanni Fiorito
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom,Laboratory of Biostatistics, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy
| | - Angelo d’Errico
- Department of Epidemiology, Local Health Unit TO 3, Turin 10095, Italy
| | - Marianna Virtanen
- School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu FI-80101, Finland,Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden
| | - Leena Ala-Mursula
- Center for Life Course Health Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu 90014, Finland
| | - Marjo-Riitta Järvelin
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom,Center for Life Course Health Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu 90014, Finland
| | - Paolo Vineis
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom
| | - Oliver Robinson
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom,Ageing Epidemiology (AGE) Research Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College of London, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom
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Thompson M, Hill BL, Rakocz N, Chiang JN, Geschwind D, Sankararaman S, Hofer I, Cannesson M, Zaitlen N, Halperin E. Methylation risk scores are associated with a collection of phenotypes within electronic health record systems. NPJ Genom Med 2022; 7:50. [PMID: 36008412 PMCID: PMC9411568 DOI: 10.1038/s41525-022-00320-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Inference of clinical phenotypes is a fundamental task in precision medicine, and has therefore been heavily investigated in recent years in the context of electronic health records (EHR) using a large arsenal of machine learning techniques, as well as in the context of genetics using polygenic risk scores (PRS). In this work, we considered the epigenetic analog of PRS, methylation risk scores (MRS), a linear combination of methylation states. We measured methylation across a large cohort (n = 831) of diverse samples in the UCLA Health biobank, for which both genetic and complete EHR data are available. We constructed MRS for 607 phenotypes spanning diagnoses, clinical lab tests, and medication prescriptions. When added to a baseline set of predictive features, MRS significantly improved the imputation of 139 outcomes, whereas the PRS improved only 22 (median improvement for methylation 10.74%, 141.52%, and 15.46% in medications, labs, and diagnosis codes, respectively, whereas genotypes only improved the labs at a median increase of 18.42%). We added significant MRS to state-of-the-art EHR imputation methods that leverage the entire set of medical records, and found that including MRS as a medical feature in the algorithm significantly improves EHR imputation in 37% of lab tests examined (median R2 increase 47.6%). Finally, we replicated several MRS in multiple external studies of methylation (minimum p-value of 2.72 × 10−7) and replicated 22 of 30 tested MRS internally in two separate cohorts of different ethnicity. Our publicly available results and weights show promise for methylation risk scores as clinical and scientific tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mike Thompson
- Department of Computer Science, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Brian L Hill
- Department of Computer Science, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
| | - Nadav Rakocz
- Department of Computer Science, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jeffrey N Chiang
- Department of Computational Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Daniel Geschwind
- Institute of Precision Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sriram Sankararaman
- Department of Computer Science, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Computational Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Human Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ira Hofer
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Maxime Cannesson
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Noah Zaitlen
- Department of Neurology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Eran Halperin
- Department of Computer Science, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. .,Department of Computational Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. .,Department of Human Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. .,Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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35
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Jin J, Zhu C, Wang J, Zhao X, Yang R. The association between ACTB methylation in peripheral blood and coronary heart disease in a case-control study. Front Cardiovasc Med 2022; 9:972566. [PMID: 36061541 PMCID: PMC9433772 DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.972566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Coronary heart disease (CHD) brings a heavy burden to society worldwide. Novel and minimally invasive biomarkers for the risk evaluation of CHD are urgently needed. Previous study has revealed that blood-based hypomethylation of β-actin (ACTB) was associated with increased risk of stroke, but not reported in CHD yet. Objectives We aimed to explore the association between blood-based ACTB methylation and the risk of CHD in a case-control study in the Chinese population. Methods The methylation level of ACTB was quantitatively determined by mass spectrometry in 281 CHD patients and 272 controls. The association between ACTB methylation and CHD risk was estimated by logistic regression analyses adjusted for possible confounding effects. Results We found a significant association between hypermethylation of ACTB in peripheral blood and increased risk of CHD (odds ratios (ORs) per +10% methylation: 1.19–1.45, p < 0.013 for nine out of thirteen CpG sites), especially in male subjects and heart failure (HF) patients (ORs per +10% methylation: 1.20–1.43, 1.38–1.46; p < 0.030, 1.52 × 10−4, respectively). Hypermethylation of ACTB_CpG_2.3, ACTB_CpG_7.8, and ACTB_CpG_9.10 was observed in the CHD patients with minor to medium cardiac function impairment (NYHA I&II CHD cases) (ORs per +10% methylation: 1.38–1.44; p < 0.001). The combination of ACTB_CpG_2.3, ACTB_CpG_7.8, and ACTB_CpG_9.10 methylation levels could efficiently discriminate CHD cases, male CHD patients, HF and NYHA I&II CHD patients from controls (area under curve (AUC) = 0.75, 0.74, 0.73, and 0.77, respectively). Conclusions Our study reveals a strong association between blood-based ACTB hypermethylation and CHD risk. The combination of ACTB methylation and conventional risk factors might provide a novel strategy to improve risk assessment of CHD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jialie Jin
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Chao Zhu
- Department of Cardiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Jinxin Wang
- Department of Cardiology, The Second Medical Centre, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaojing Zhao
- Military Translational Medicine Lab, Medical Innovation Research Division, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Chronic Heart Failure Precision Medicine, Medical Innovation Research Division, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
- Xiaojing Zhao
| | - Rongxi Yang
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
- *Correspondence: Rongxi Yang
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36
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Derakhshan M, Kessler NJ, Ishida M, Demetriou C, Brucato N, Moore G, Fall CHD, Chandak GR, Ricaut FX, Prentice A, Hellenthal G, Silver M. Tissue- and ethnicity-independent hypervariable DNA methylation states show evidence of establishment in the early human embryo. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:6735-6752. [PMID: 35713545 PMCID: PMC9749461 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2021] [Revised: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
We analysed DNA methylation data from 30 datasets comprising 3474 individuals, 19 tissues and 8 ethnicities at CpGs covered by the Illumina450K array. We identified 4143 hypervariable CpGs ('hvCpGs') with methylation in the top 5% most variable sites across multiple tissues and ethnicities. hvCpG methylation was influenced but not determined by genetic variation, and was not linked to probe reliability, epigenetic drift, age, sex or cell heterogeneity effects. hvCpG methylation tended to covary across tissues derived from different germ-layers and hvCpGs were enriched for proximity to ERV1 and ERVK retrovirus elements. hvCpGs were also enriched for loci previously associated with periconceptional environment, parent-of-origin-specific methylation, and distinctive methylation signatures in monozygotic twins. Together, these properties position hvCpGs as strong candidates for studying how stochastic and/or environmentally influenced DNA methylation states which are established in the early embryo and maintained stably thereafter can influence life-long health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Noah J Kessler
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge,
Cambridge CB2 3EH, UK
| | - Miho Ishida
- UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, UK
| | | | - Nicolas Brucato
- Laboratoire Évolution and Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174), Université
de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS,Toulouse, France
| | | | - Caroline H D Fall
- MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton,
Southampton, UK
| | - Giriraj R Chandak
- Genomic Research on Complex Diseases (GRC Group), CSIR-Centre for Cellular
and Molecular Biology,Hyderabad, India
| | - Francois-Xavier Ricaut
- Laboratoire Évolution and Diversité Biologique (EDB UMR 5174), Université
de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, IRD, UPS,Toulouse, France
| | - Andrew M Prentice
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine, The Gambia
| | - Garrett Hellenthal
- UCL Genetics Institute, University College London,
Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Matt J Silver
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine, The Gambia
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Omichessan H, Perduca V, Polidoro S, Kvaskoff M, Truong T, Cano-Sancho G, Antignac JP, Baglietto L, Mancini FR, Severi G. Associations between plasma levels of brominated flame retardants and methylation of DNA from peripheral blood: A cross-sectional study in a cohort of French women. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2022; 210:112788. [PMID: 35123963 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.112788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2021] [Revised: 12/24/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are organic compounds that are widespread in the environment. Because of their persistence, they are able to bioaccumulate with major impacts on human health. It has been hypothesized that the effect of BFRs on human health is mediated by alterations of DNA methylation. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the association between methylation of DNA extracted from peripheral blood and circulating levels of BFRs measured in plasma. METHODS We conducted a methylation wide association study on 336 blood samples from a study within the E3N (Etude Epidémiologique auprès de femmes de l'Education Nationale) cohort, a long-term longitudinal cohort of French women. DNA methylation at more than 850 000 cytosine-guanine dinucleotide (CpG) sites was measured with the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation - EPIC BeadChip. Circulating levels of seven BFRs (BDE-28, BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-100, BDE-153, BDE-154 and PBB-153) were measured by gas chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry in plasma samples. The association between DNA methylation and BFRs plasma levels was assessed through linear mixed-effects models followed by gene-set enrichment analyses (GSEA). RESULTS We identified 253 CpG sites whose methylation levels were significantly associated with exposure to BFRs after Bonferroni correction. For 50 of these CpGs the p-values were less than 2.2x10-9 with the strongest association being between BDE-154 and cg23619365 (4.32x10-13). GSEA of CpG sites associated with exposure to BFRs identified significant enrichment of genes involved in hypoxia, glycolysis and adipogenesis. CONCLUSIONS Exposure to BFRs appears to be related to numerous alterations in DNA methylation. These findings, if replicated in independent studies, provide insights into the biological and health effects of BFRs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanane Omichessan
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INSERM, CESP U1018, "Exposome, Heredity, Cancer and Health" Team, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
| | - Vittorio Perduca
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INSERM, CESP U1018, "Exposome, Heredity, Cancer and Health" Team, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France; Laboratoire MAP5 (UMR CNRS 8145), Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Silvia Polidoro
- Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine (IIGM), Candiolo, Italy
| | - Marina Kvaskoff
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INSERM, CESP U1018, "Exposome, Heredity, Cancer and Health" Team, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
| | - Thérèse Truong
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INSERM, CESP U1018, "Exposome, Heredity, Cancer and Health" Team, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
| | | | | | - Laura Baglietto
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy
| | - Francesca Romana Mancini
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INSERM, CESP U1018, "Exposome, Heredity, Cancer and Health" Team, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
| | - Gianluca Severi
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INSERM, CESP U1018, "Exposome, Heredity, Cancer and Health" Team, Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France; Department of Statistics, Computer Science, University of Florence, Applications G. Parenti, Italy.
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Mangiavacchi PM, Caldas-Bussiere MC, Mendonça MDS, Rumpf R, Lemos Júnior PES, Alves CS, Carneiro WDS, Dias AJB, Rios ÁFL. Multi-locus DNA methylation analysis of imprinted genes in cattle from somatic cell nuclear transfer. Theriogenology 2022; 186:95-107. [DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2022.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Revised: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Bohlin J, Page CM, Lee Y, Pettersson JHO, Jugessur A, Magnus P, Håberg SE. Age and sex effects on DNA methylation sites linked to genes implicated in severe COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 host cell entry. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0269105. [PMID: 35679253 PMCID: PMC9182232 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Male sex and advanced age are associated with severe symptoms of COVID-19. Sex and age also exhibit substantial associations with genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) differences in humans. Using a random sample of Illumina EPIC-based genome-wide methylomes from peripheral whole blood of 1,976 parents, participating in The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), we explored whether DNAm in genes linked to SARS-CoV-2 host cell entry and to severe COVID-19 were associated with sex and age. This was carried out by testing 1,572 DNAm sites (CpGs) located near 45 genes for associations with age and sex. We found that DNAm in 281 and 231 of 1,572 CpGs were associated (pFDR<0.01) with sex and aging, respectively. CpGs linked to SARS-CoV-2 host cell entry genes were all associated with age and sex, except for the ACE2 receptor gene (located on the X-chromosome), which was only associated with sex (pFDR<0.01). Furthermore, we examined whether 1,487 autosomal CpGs associated with host-cell entry and severe COVID-19 were more or less associated with sex and age than what would be expected from the same number of randomly sampled genome-wide CpGs. We found that the CpGs associated with host-cell entry and severe COVID-19 were not more or less associated with sex (R2 = 0.77, p = 0.09) than the CpGs sampled from random genomic regions; age was actually found to be significantly less so (R2 = 0.36, p = 0.04). Hence, while we found wide-spread associations between sex and age at CpGs linked to genes implicated with SARS-CoV-2 host cell entry and severe COVID-19, the effect from the sum of these CpGs was not stronger than that from randomly sampled CpGs; for age it was significantly less so. These findings could suggest that advanced age and male sex may not be unsurmountable barriers for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to evolve increased infectiousness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jon Bohlin
- Department of Method Development and analytics, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Center for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- * E-mail:
| | - Christian M. Page
- Center for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Mathematics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Yunsung Lee
- Center for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - John H.-O. Pettersson
- Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and School of Medical Sciences, the University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Zoonosis Science Center, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Astanand Jugessur
- Center for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Per Magnus
- Center for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Siri E. Håberg
- Center for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
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Andrews SV, Yang IJ, Froehlich K, Oskotsky T, Sirota M. Large-scale placenta DNA methylation integrated analysis reveals fetal sex-specific differentially methylated CpG sites and regions. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9396. [PMID: 35672357 PMCID: PMC9174475 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13544-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Although male–female differences in placental structure and function have been observed, little is understood about their molecular underpinnings. Here, we present a mega-analysis of 14 publicly available placenta DNA methylation (DNAm) microarray datasets to identify individual CpGs and regions associated with fetal sex. In the discovery dataset of placentas from full term pregnancies (N = 532 samples), 5212 CpGs met genome-wide significance (p < 1E−8) and were enriched in pathways such as keratinization (FDR p-value = 7.37E−14), chemokine activity (FDR p-value = 1.56E−2), and eosinophil migration (FDR p-value = 1.83E−2). Nine differentially methylated regions were identified (fwerArea < 0.1) including a region in the promoter of ZNF300 that showed consistent differential DNAm in samples from earlier timepoints in pregnancy and appeared to be driven predominately by effects in the trophoblast cell type. We describe the largest study of fetal sex differences in placenta DNAm performed to date, revealing genes and pathways characterizing sex-specific placenta function and health outcomes later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shan V Andrews
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Irene J Yang
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA.,Dougherty Valley High School, San Ramon, CA, USA
| | - Karolin Froehlich
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Tomiko Oskotsky
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA. .,Department of Pediatrics, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Marina Sirota
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA. .,Department of Pediatrics, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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41
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Manu DM, Mwinyi J, Schiöth HB. Challenges in Analyzing Functional Epigenetic Data in Perspective of Adolescent Psychiatric Health. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:5856. [PMID: 35628666 PMCID: PMC9147258 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23105856] [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: 04/14/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The formative period of adolescence plays a crucial role in the development of skills and abilities for adulthood. Adolescents who are affected by mental health conditions are at risk of suicide and social and academic impairments. Gene-environment complementary contributions to the molecular mechanisms involved in psychiatric disorders have emphasized the need to analyze epigenetic marks such as DNA methylation (DNAm) and non-coding RNAs. However, the large and diverse bioinformatic and statistical methods, referring to the confounders of the statistical models, application of multiple-testing adjustment methods, questions regarding the correlation of DNAm across tissues, and sex-dependent differences in results, have raised challenges regarding the interpretation of the results. Based on the example of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and depressive disorder (MDD), we shed light on the current knowledge and usage of methodological tools in analyzing epigenetics. Statistical robustness is an essential prerequisite for a better understanding and interpretation of epigenetic modifications and helps to find novel targets for personalized therapeutics in psychiatric diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana M. Manu
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Functional Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Uppsala University, 751 24 Uppsala, Sweden; (J.M.); (H.B.S.)
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Grant OA, Wang Y, Kumari M, Zabet NR, Schalkwyk L. Characterising sex differences of autosomal DNA methylation in whole blood using the Illumina EPIC array. Clin Epigenetics 2022; 14:62. [PMID: 35568878 PMCID: PMC9107695 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-022-01279-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sex differences are known to play a role in disease aetiology, progression and outcome. Previous studies have revealed autosomal epigenetic differences between males and females in some tissues, including differences in DNA methylation patterns. Here, we report for the first time an analysis of autosomal sex differences in DNAme using the Illumina EPIC array in human whole blood by performing a discovery (n = 1171) and validation (n = 2471) analysis. RESULTS We identified and validated 396 sex-associated differentially methylated CpG sites (saDMPs) with the majority found to be female-biased CpGs (74%). These saDMP's are enriched in CpG islands and CpG shores and located preferentially at 5'UTRs, 3'UTRs and enhancers. Additionally, we identified 266 significant sex-associated differentially methylated regions overlapping genes, which have previously been shown to exhibit epigenetic sex differences, and novel genes. Transcription factor binding site enrichment revealed enrichment of transcription factors related to critical developmental processes and sex determination such as SRY and ESR1. CONCLUSION Our study reports a reliable catalogue of sex-associated CpG sites and elucidates several characteristics of these sites using large-scale discovery and validation data sets. This resource will benefit future studies aiming to investigate sex specific epigenetic signatures and further our understanding of the role of DNA methylation in sex differences in human whole blood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia A Grant
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK
- Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK
- Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 2AT, UK
| | - Yucheng Wang
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK
- School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK
| | - Meena Kumari
- Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK
| | - Nicolae Radu Zabet
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK.
- Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 2AT, UK.
| | - Leonard Schalkwyk
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK.
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Global DNA methylation changes in adults with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and its comorbidity with bipolar disorder: links with polygenic scores. Mol Psychiatry 2022; 27:2485-2491. [PMID: 35256746 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01493-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 02/05/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Genetic and environmental factors contribute to the etiology of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In this sense, the study of epigenetic mechanisms could contribute to the understanding of the disorder's neurobiology. Global DNA methylation (GMe) evaluated through 5-methylcytosine levels could be a promising epigenetic biomarker to capture long-lasting biological effects in response to environmental and hormonal changes. We conducted the first assessment of GMe levels in subjects with ADHD (n = 394) and its main comorbidities in comparison to populational controls (n = 390). Furthermore, given the high genetic contribution to ADHD (heritability of 80%), polygenic risk scores (PRS) were calculated to verify the genetic contribution to GMe levels in ADHD and the comorbidities associated with GMe levels. The GMe levels observed in patients were lower than controls (P = 1.1e-8), with women being significantly less globally methylated than men (P = 0.002). Regarding comorbidities, the presence of bipolar disorder (BD) among patients with ADHD was associated with higher methylation levels compared to patients with ADHD without BD (P = 0.031). The results did not change when pharmacological treatment was accounted for in the analyses. The ADHD and BD most predictive PRSs were negatively (P = 0.0064) and positively (P = 0.0042) correlated with GMe, respectively. This study is the first to report an association between GMe, ADHD, and its comorbidity with BD and associations between PRSs for specific psychiatric disorders and GMe. Our findings add to previous evidence that GMe may be a relevant piece in the psychiatric disorders' etiological landscape.
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44
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Deest M, Buchholz V, Jahn K, Eberlein C, Bleich S, Frieling H. Hypomethylation of monoamine oxidase A promoter/exon 1 region is associated with temper outbursts in Prader-Willi syndrome. J Psychiatr Res 2022; 149:359-366. [PMID: 34782122 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.11.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Revised: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/06/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by the absence of paternally expressed and maternally imprinted genes on chromosome 15q 11.2-13. It is associated with a certain behavioural phenotype, especially temper outbursts with verbal and physical aggression towards others. Recent studies show a promising therapeutic effect of serotonin reuptake inhibitors like sertraline on frequency and intensity of outbursts. Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) (X p11.23) plays a crucial role in the metabolism of monoamines. Dysregulation in methylation of the CpG island spanning the promoter region and exon 1 of MAOA is implicated in impulsive and aggressive behaviour. METHODS In the present study, methylation rates of CpG dinucleotides in the MAOA promoter and exon 1 region were determined from DNA derived from whole blood samples of PWS patients (n = 32) and controls (n = 14) matched for age, sex and BMI via bisulfite sequencing. PWS patients were grouped into those showing temper outbursts, and those who do not. RESULTS Overall, PWS patients show a significant lower methylation rate at the promoter/exon 1 region than healthy controls in both sexes. Furthermore, PWS patients, male as well female with temper outbursts show a significant lower methylation rate than those without temper outbursts (p < 0.001 and p = 0.006). CONCLUSION The MAOA promoter/exon 1 region methylation seems to be dysregulated in PWS patients in sense of a hypomethylation, especially in those suffering from temper outbursts. This dysregulation probably plays a crucial role in the pathophysiology of temper outbursts in PWS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Deest
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
| | - Vanessa Buchholz
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Kirsten Jahn
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Christian Eberlein
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Stefan Bleich
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Helge Frieling
- Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
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45
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Ross JP, van Dijk S, Phang M, Skilton MR, Molloy PL, Oytam Y. Batch-effect detection, correction and characterisation in Illumina HumanMethylation450 and MethylationEPIC BeadChip array data. Clin Epigenetics 2022; 14:58. [PMID: 35488315 PMCID: PMC9055778 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-022-01277-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Genomic technologies can be subject to significant batch-effects which are known to reduce experimental power and to potentially create false positive results. The Illumina Infinium Methylation BeadChip is a popular technology choice for epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS), but presently, little is known about the nature of batch-effects on these designs. Given the subtlety of biological phenotypes in many EWAS, control for batch-effects should be a consideration.
Results Using the batch-effect removal approaches in the ComBat and Harman software, we examined two in-house datasets and compared results with three large publicly available datasets, (1214 HumanMethylation450 and 1094 MethylationEPIC BeadChips in total), and find that despite various forms of preprocessing, some batch-effects persist. This residual batch-effect is associated with the day of processing, the individual glass slide and the position of the array on the slide. Consistently across all datasets, 4649 probes required high amounts of correction. To understand the impact of this set to EWAS studies, we explored the literature and found three instances where persistently batch-effect prone probes have been reported in abstracts as key sites of differential methylation. As well as batch-effect susceptible probes, we also discover a set of probes which are erroneously corrected. We provide batch-effect workflows for Infinium Methylation data and provide reference matrices of batch-effect prone and erroneously corrected features across the five datasets spanning regionally diverse populations and three commonly collected biosamples (blood, buccal and saliva). Conclusions Batch-effects are ever present, even in high-quality data, and a strategy to deal with them should be part of experimental design, particularly for EWAS. Batch-effect removal tools are useful to reduce technical variance in Infinium Methylation data, but they need to be applied with care and make use of post hoc diagnostic measures. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13148-022-01277-9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason P Ross
- Human Health Program, Health and Biosecurity, CSIRO, Sydney, Australia.
| | - Susan van Dijk
- Human Health Program, Health and Biosecurity, CSIRO, Sydney, Australia
| | - Melinda Phang
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Michael R Skilton
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.,Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.,Sydney Institute for Women, Children and Their Families, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia
| | - Peter L Molloy
- Human Health Program, Health and Biosecurity, CSIRO, Sydney, Australia
| | - Yalchin Oytam
- Clinical Insights and Analytics Unit, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia
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46
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Zhang Y, Liu C. Evaluating the challenges and reproducibility of studies investigating DNA methylation signatures of psychological stress. Epigenomics 2022; 14:405-421. [PMID: 35170363 PMCID: PMC8978984 DOI: 10.2217/epi-2021-0190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychological stress can increase the risk of a wide range of negative health outcomes. Studies have been completed to determine if DNA methylation changes occur in the human brain because of stress and are associated with long-term effects and disease, but results have been inconsistent. Human candidate gene studies (150) and epigenome-wide association studies (67) were systematically evaluated to assess how DNA methylation is impacted by stress during the prenatal period, early childhood and adulthood. The association between DNA methylation of NR3C1 exon 1F and child maltreatment and early life adversity was well demonstrated, but other genes did not exhibit a clear association. The reproducibility of individual CpG sites in epigenome-wide association studies was also poor. However, biological pathways, including stress response, brain development and immunity, have been consistently identified across different stressors throughout the life span. Future studies would benefit from the increased sample size, longitudinal design, standardized methodology, optimal quality control, and improved statistical procedures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Zhang
- Medical Department, Northwest Minzu University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China
- Key Laboratory of Environmental Ecology and Population Health in Northwest Minority Areas, Northwest Minzu University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China
| | - Chunyu Liu
- Center for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410078, China
- Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
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47
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Staley JR, Windmeijer F, Suderman M, Lyon MS, Davey Smith G, Tilling K. A robust mean and variance test with application to high-dimensional phenotypes. Eur J Epidemiol 2022; 37:377-387. [PMID: 34651232 PMCID: PMC9187575 DOI: 10.1007/s10654-021-00805-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Most studies of continuous health-related outcomes examine differences in mean levels (location) of the outcome by exposure. However, identifying effects on the variability (scale) of an outcome, and combining tests of mean and variability (location-and-scale), could provide additional insights into biological mechanisms. A joint test could improve power for studies of high-dimensional phenotypes, such as epigenome-wide association studies of DNA methylation at CpG sites. One possible cause of heterogeneity of variance is a variable interacting with exposure in its effect on outcome, so a joint test of mean and variability could help in the identification of effect modifiers. Here, we review a scale test, based on the Brown-Forsythe test, for analysing variability of a continuous outcome with respect to both categorical and continuous exposures, and develop a novel joint location-and-scale score (JLSsc) test. These tests were compared to alternatives in simulations and used to test associations of mean and variability of DNA methylation with gender and gestational age using data from the Accessible Resource for Integrated Epigenomics Studies (ARIES). In simulations, the Brown-Forsythe and JLSsc tests retained correct type I error rates when the outcome was not normally distributed in contrast to the other approaches tested which all had inflated type I error rates. These tests also identified > 7500 CpG sites for which either mean or variability in cord blood methylation differed according to gender or gestational age. The Brown-Forsythe test and JLSsc are robust tests that can be used to detect associations not solely driven by a mean effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- James R Staley
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
| | - Frank Windmeijer
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
- Department of Statistics and Nuffield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Matthew Suderman
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
| | - Matthew S Lyon
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
- National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre, University of Bristol, Oakfield House, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
| | - George Davey Smith
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
| | - Kate Tilling
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK.
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48
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Tokatli MR, Sisti LG, Marziali E, Nachira L, Rossi MF, Amantea C, Moscato U, Malorni W. Hormones and Sex-Specific Medicine in Human Physiopathology. Biomolecules 2022; 12:413. [PMID: 35327605 PMCID: PMC8946266 DOI: 10.3390/biom12030413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
A prodigious increment of scientific evidence in both preclinical and clinical studies is narrowing a major gap in knowledge regarding sex-specific biological responses observed in numerous branches of clinical practices. Some paradigmatic examples include neurodegenerative and mental disorders, immune-related disorders such as pathogenic infections and autoimmune diseases, oncologic conditions, and cardiovascular morbidities. The male-to-female proportion in a population is expressed as sex ratio and varies eminently with respect to the pathophysiology, natural history, incidence, prevalence, and mortality rates. The factors that determine this scenario incorporate both sex-associated biological differences and gender-dependent sociocultural issues. A broad narrative review focused on the current knowledge about the role of hormone regulation in gender medicine and gender peculiarities across key clinical areas is provided. Sex differences in immune response, cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, cancer, and COVID-19 are some of the hints reported. Moreover, gender implications in occupational health and health policy are offered to support the need for more personalized clinical medicine and public health approaches to achieve an ameliorated quality of life of patients and better outcomes in population health.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Leuconoe Grazia Sisti
- Center for Global Health Research and Studies, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (L.G.S.); (E.M.); (L.N.); (U.M.)
- National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty, 00153 Rome, Italy
| | - Eleonora Marziali
- Center for Global Health Research and Studies, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (L.G.S.); (E.M.); (L.N.); (U.M.)
| | - Lorenza Nachira
- Center for Global Health Research and Studies, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (L.G.S.); (E.M.); (L.N.); (U.M.)
| | - Maria Francesca Rossi
- Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Section of Occupational Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.F.R.); (C.A.)
| | - Carlotta Amantea
- Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Section of Occupational Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.F.R.); (C.A.)
| | - Umberto Moscato
- Center for Global Health Research and Studies, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (L.G.S.); (E.M.); (L.N.); (U.M.)
- Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Section of Occupational Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (M.F.R.); (C.A.)
| | - Walter Malorni
- Course in Pharmacy, University of Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy;
- Center for Global Health Research and Studies, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy; (L.G.S.); (E.M.); (L.N.); (U.M.)
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49
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Silver MJ, Saffari A, Kessler NJ, Chandak GR, Fall CHD, Issarapu P, Dedaniya A, Betts M, Moore SE, Routledge MN, Herceg Z, Cuenin C, Derakhshan M, James PT, Monk D, Prentice AM. Environmentally sensitive hotspots in the methylome of the early human embryo. eLife 2022; 11:e72031. [PMID: 35188105 PMCID: PMC8912923 DOI: 10.7554/elife.72031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
In humans, DNA methylation marks inherited from gametes are largely erased following fertilisation, prior to construction of the embryonic methylome. Exploiting a natural experiment of seasonal variation including changes in diet and nutritional status in rural Gambia, we analysed three datasets covering two independent child cohorts and identified 259 CpGs showing consistent associations between season of conception (SoC) and DNA methylation. SoC effects were most apparent in early infancy, with evidence of attenuation by mid-childhood. SoC-associated CpGs were enriched for metastable epialleles, parent-of-origin-specific methylation and germline differentially methylated regions, supporting a periconceptional environmental influence. Many SoC-associated CpGs overlapped enhancers or sites of active transcription in H1 embryonic stem cells and fetal tissues. Half were influenced but not determined by measured genetic variants that were independent of SoC. Environmental 'hotspots' providing a record of environmental influence at periconception constitute a valuable resource for investigating epigenetic mechanisms linking early exposures to lifelong health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matt J Silver
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
| | - Ayden Saffari
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
| | - Noah J Kessler
- Department of Genetics, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
| | - Gririraj R Chandak
- Genomic Research on Complex Diseases, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular BiologyHyderabadIndia
| | - Caroline HD Fall
- MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton General HospitalSouthamptonUnited Kingdom
| | - Prachand Issarapu
- Genomic Research on Complex Diseases, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular BiologyHyderabadIndia
| | - Akshay Dedaniya
- Genomic Research on Complex Diseases, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular BiologyHyderabadIndia
| | - Modupeh Betts
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
| | - Sophie E Moore
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
- Department of Women and Children's Health, King's College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Michael N Routledge
- School of Medicine, University of LeedsLeedsUnited Kingdom
- School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu UniversityZhenjiangChina
| | - Zdenko Herceg
- Epigenomics and Mechanisms Branch, International Agency For Research On CancerLyonFrance
| | - Cyrille Cuenin
- Epigenomics and Mechanisms Branch, International Agency For Research On CancerLyonFrance
| | - Maria Derakhshan
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
| | - Philip T James
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
| | - David Monk
- Biomedical Research Centre, University of East AngliaNorwichUnited Kingdom
- Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical ResearchBarcelonaSpain
| | - Andrew M Prentice
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
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50
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Freni-Sterrantino A, Fiorito G, D’Errico A, Robinson O, Virtanen M, Ala-Mursula L, Järvelin MR, Ronkainen J, Vineis P. Work-related stress and well-being in association with epigenetic age acceleration: A Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 Study. Aging (Albany NY) 2022; 14:1128-1156. [PMID: 35113041 PMCID: PMC8876924 DOI: 10.18632/aging.203872] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Recent evidence indicates consistent association of low socioeconomic status with epigenetic age acceleration, measured from DNA methylation. As work characteristics and job stressors are crucial components of socioeconomic status, we investigated their association with various measures of epigenetic age acceleration. The study population included employed and unemployed men and women (n=604) from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. We investigated the association of job strain, effort-reward imbalance and work characteristics with five biomarkers of epigenetic aging (Hannum, Horvath, PhenoAge, GrimAge, and DunedinPoAm). Our results indicate few significant associations between work stress indicators and epigenetic age acceleration, limited to a range of ±2 years, and smoking recording the highest effect on GrimAge age acceleration biomarker between current and no smokers (median difference 4.73 years (IQR 1.18, 8.41). PhenoAgeAA was associated with job strain active work (β=-1.301 95%CI -2.391, -0.212), slowing aging of less than 1.5 years, and working as white-collar slowed aging six months (GrimAgeAA β=-0.683, 95%CI -1.264, -0.102) when compared to blue collars. Association was found for working for more than 40 hours per week that increased the aging over 1.5 years, (HorvathAA β =2.058 95%CI 0.517,3.599, HannumAA β=1.567, 95%CI 0.415,2.719). The pattern of associations was different between women and men and some of the estimated effects are inconsistent with current literature. Our results provide the first evidence of association of work conditions with epigenetic aging biomarkers. However, further epidemiological research is needed to fully understand how work-related stress affects epigenetic age acceleration in men and women in different societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Freni-Sterrantino
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, St Mary's Campus, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom
| | - Giovanni Fiorito
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, St Mary's Campus, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom
- Laboratory of Biostatistics, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy
| | - Angelo D’Errico
- Department of Epidemiology, Local Health Unit TO 3, Turin 10095, Italy
| | - Oliver Robinson
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, St Mary's Campus, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom
| | - Marianna Virtanen
- School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu FI-80101, Finland
- Division of Insurance Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden
| | - Leena Ala-Mursula
- Center for Life Course Health Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu 90014, Finland
| | - Marjo-Riitta Järvelin
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, St Mary's Campus, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom
- Center for Life Course Health Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu 90014, Finland
| | - Justiina Ronkainen
- Center for Life Course Health Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu 90014, Finland
| | - Paolo Vineis
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, St Mary's Campus, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom
- Grantham Institute for Climate Change and School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
- IIGM – Italian Institute for Genomic Medicine (IIGM), IRCCS Candiolo, Torino 10060, Italy
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