Rhesus macaque cerebral cortex DNA methylation profiling by MeDIP-Chip

ABSTRACT: Comparing genetic differences between human and nonhuman primates is a fundamental method to dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying the improved human cognitive ability during evolution. Besides DNA sequence divergences, gene regulation differences between human and nonhuman primates have been shown to be more prominent. DNA methylation is an important type of epigenetic modification that plays critical roles in gene regulations. Trans-generational inheritances of DNA methylation in mammals are widely accepted, suggesting the evolutionary role of DNA methylation. To test if DNA methylation has contributed to the evolution of human brain, with the use of MeDIP-Chip and SEQUENOM MassARRAY, we conducted a systematic analysis to identify the differentially methylated DNA regions (DMRs) between human and rhesus macaque in the cerebral cortex. We first identified a total of 150 candidate DMRs by the MeDIP-Chip method, among which 6 DMRs were confirmed by the SEQUENOM MassARRAY method. And 4 of them were further confirmed using independent samples, while the other 2 were failed to test due to technical difficulties. All the 6 DMRs were in CpG islands or close to CpG islands, and a MIR3 repeat element was located in one DMR, but no repeats was found in the other 5 DMRs. For the 6 DMR genes, most have neural related functions, and their proteins tend to be conserved. Additionally, we found the DNA sequence changes at CpG sites contributed to the species-specific DNA methylation. Our study shed light on the researches of trans-generational epigenetic inheritance and the roles of DNA methylation in evolution, especially human evolution. Compare the DNA methylation levels between human and rhesus macaque

ORGANISM(S): Macaca mulatta

SUBMITTER: Jinkai Wang 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-27460 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress