Project description:DNA methylation is an essential epigenetic mechanism that regulates cellular reprogramming and development. Studies using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing have revealed distinct DNA methylome landscapes in human and mouse cells and tissues. However, the factors responsible for the differences in megabase-scale methylome patterns between cell types remain poorly understood. By analyzing publicly available 258 human and 301 mouse whole-genome bisulfite sequencing datasets, we reveal that genomic regions rich in guanine and cytosine, when located near the nuclear center, are highly susceptible to both global DNA demethylation and methylation events during embryonic and germline reprogramming. Furthermore, we found that regions that generate partially methylated domains during global DNA methylation are more likely to resist global DNA demethylation, contain high levels of adenine and thymine, and are adjacent to the nuclear lamina. The spatial properties of genomic regions, influenced by their guanine-cytosine content, are likely to affect the accessibility of molecules involved in DNA (de)methylation. These properties shape megabase-scale DNA methylation patterns and change as cells differentiate, leading to the emergence of different megabase-scale methylome patterns across cell types.
Project description:Unlike the better-studied aberrant epigenome in the tumor, the clinicopathologic impact of DNA methylation in the tumor microenvironment (TME), especially the contribution from cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), remains elusive. CAFs exhibit profound patient-to-patient tumorigenic heterogeneity. We asked whether such heterogeneity may be exploited to quantify the level of TME malignancy. We developed a robust and efficient methylome/transcriptome co-analytical system for CAFs and paired normal fibroblasts (NFs) from non-small-cell lung cancer patients. We found 14,781 CpG sites of CAF/NF differential methylation, of which 3,707 sites showed higher methylation changes in ever-smokers than in nonsmokers. Concomitant CAF/NF differential gene expression analysis pointed to a subset of 54 smoking-associated CpG sites with strong methylation-regulated gene expression. A methylation index that summarizes the β values of these CpGs was built for NF/CAF discrimination (MIND) with high sensitivity and specificity. The potential of MIND in detecting premalignancy across individual patients was shown. MIND succeeded in predicting tumor recurrence in multiple lung cancer cohorts without reliance on patient survival data, suggesting that the malignancy level of TME may be effectively graded by this index. Precision TME grading may provide additional pathological information to guide cancer prognosis and open up more options in personalized medicine.
Project description:Hydroxylation of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) by TET enzymes presents a particular regulatory mechanism in the mammalian brain. However, although methylation and hydroxymethylation of cytosines in non-CpG contexts have been reported, these mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we applied TAB-seq and oxBS-seq selectively to detect 5hmC and 5mC at base resolution in olfactory bulb derived from female mice. We found that active turnover of 5mC to 5hmC occurred in both CpG and non-CpG contexts. Strikingly, we identified a different sequence preference for 5mC and 5hmC in a CH context, in which H = A, C, or T, TNCA/TC for 5mC and NNCA/T/CN for 5hmC. More importantly, we found that genes showing 5mC to 5hmC turnover showed only limited overlap in CpG and CH contexts, and that olfactory receptor genes were marked with higher turnover of 5mC to 5hmC in non-CpG context. Collectively, we identified an unexpected sequence preference for non-CpG hydroxymethylation and distinct target genes regulated by the turnover of 5mC to 5hmC in CpG and CH contexts.
Project description:DNA methylation regulates key biological processes in plants. In this study, kenaf seedlings were pretreated with the DNA methylation inhibitor 5-azacytidine (5-azaC) (at concentrations of 0, 100, 200, 400, and 600 μM), and the results showed that pretreatment with 200 μM 5-azaC promoted flowering most effectively. To elucidate the underlying mechanism, phytohormone, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and starch contents were determined, and genome-wide DNA methylation and transcriptome analyses were performed on anthers pretreated with 200 μM 5-azaC (5-azaC200) or with no 5-azaC (control conditions; 5-azaC0). Biochemical analysis revealed that 5-azaC pretreatment significantly reduced indoleacetic acid (IAA) and gibberellic acid (GA) contents and significantly increased abscisic acid (ABA) and ATP contents. The starch contents significantly increased in response to 200 and 600 μM 5-azaC. Further genome-wide DNA methylation analysis revealed 451 differentially methylated genes (DMGs) with 209 up- and 242 downregulated genes. Transcriptome analysis showed 3,986 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with 2,171 up- and 1,815 downregulated genes. Integrated genome-wide DNA methylation and transcriptome analyses revealed 72 genes that were both differentially methylated and differentially expressed. These genes, which included ARFs, PP2C, starch synthase, FLC, PIF1, AGL80, and WRKY32, are involved mainly in plant hormone signal transduction, starch and sucrose metabolism, and flowering regulation and may be involved in early flowering. This study serves as a reference and theoretical basis for kenaf production and provides insights into the effects of DNA methylation on plant growth and development.
Project description:Remodelling the methylome is a hallmark of mammalian development and cell differentiation. However, current knowledge of DNA methylation dynamics in human tissue specification and organ development largely stems from the extrapolation of studies in vitro and animal models. Here, we report on the DNA methylation landscape using the 450k array of four human tissues (amnion, muscle, adrenal and pancreas) during the first and second trimester of gestation (9,18 and 22 weeks). We show that a tissue-specific signature, constituted by tissue-specific hypomethylated CpG sites, was already present at 9 weeks of gestation (W9). Furthermore, we report large-scale remodelling of DNA methylation from W9 to W22. Gain of DNA methylation preferentially occurred near genes involved in general developmental processes, whereas loss of DNA methylation mapped to genes with tissue-specific functions. Dynamic DNA methylation was associated with enhancers, but not promoters. Comparison of our data with external fetal adrenal, brain and liver revealed striking similarities in the trajectory of DNA methylation during fetal development. The analysis of gene expression data indicated that dynamic DNA methylation was associated with the progressive repression of developmental programs and the activation of genes involved in tissue-specific processes. The DNA methylation landscape of human fetal development provides insight into regulatory elements that guide tissue specification and lead to organ functionality.
Project description:DNA methylation is aberrant in cancer, but the dynamics, regulatory role and clinical implications of such epigenetic changes are still poorly understood. Here, reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) profiles of 1538 breast tumors and 244 normal breast tissues from the METABRIC cohort are reported, facilitating detailed analysis of DNA methylation within a rich context of genomic, transcriptional, and clinical data. Tumor methylation from immune and stromal signatures are deconvoluted leading to the discovery of a tumor replication-linked clock with genome-wide methylation loss in non-CpG island sites. Unexpectedly, methylation in most tumor CpG islands follows two replication-independent processes of gain (MG) or loss (ML) that we term epigenomic instability. Epigenomic instability is correlated with tumor grade and stage, TP53 mutations and poorer prognosis. After controlling for these global trans-acting trends, as well as for X-linked dosage compensation effects, cis-specific methylation and expression correlations are uncovered at hundreds of promoters and over a thousand distal elements. Some of these targeted known tumor suppressors and oncogenes. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that global epigenetic instability can erode cancer methylomes and expose them to localized methylation aberrations in-cis resulting in transcriptional changes seen in tumors.
Project description:DNA methylation is a chromatin modification that can provide epigenetic regulation of gene and transposon expression. Plants utilize several pathways to establish and maintain DNA methylation in specific sequence contexts. The chromomethylase (CMT) genes maintain CHG (where H = A, C or T) methylation. The RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway is important for CHH methylation. Transcriptome analysis was performed in a collection of Zea mays lines carrying mutant alleles for CMT or RdDM-associated genes. While the majority of the transcriptome was not affected, we identified sets of genes and transposon families sensitive to context-specific decreases in DNA methylation in mutant lines. Many of the genes that are up-regulated in CMT mutant lines have high levels of CHG methylation, while genes that are differentially expressed in RdDM mutants are enriched for having nearby mCHH islands, implicating context-specific DNA methylation in the regulation of expression for a small number of genes. Many genes regulated by CMTs exhibit natural variation for DNA methylation and transcript abundance in a panel of diverse inbred lines. Transposon families with differential expression in the mutant genotypes show few defining features, though several families up-regulated in RdDM mutants show enriched expression in endosperm tissue, highlighting the potential importance for this pathway during reproduction. Taken together, our findings suggest that while the number of genes and transposon families whose expression is reproducibly affected by mild perturbations in context-specific methylation is small, there are distinct patterns for loci impacted by RdDM and CMT mutants.
Project description:Separate sexes in dioecious plants display different morphology and physiological characteristics. The differences between the two sexes lie in their highly differentiated floral characteristics and in sex-related phenotype, which is genetically determined and epigenetically modified. In dioecious papaya (Carica papaya L.), global comparisons of epigenetic DNA methylation and gene expressions were still limited. We conducted bisulfite sequencing of early-stage flowers grown in three seasons (spring, summer and winter) and compared their methylome and transcriptome profiles to investigate the differential characteristics of male and female in papaya. Methylation variances between female and male papaya were conserved among three different seasons. However, combined genome-scale transcriptomic evidence revealed that most methylation variances did not have influence on the expression profiles of neighboring genes, and the differentially expressed genes were most overrepresented in phytohormone signal transduction pathways. Further analyses showed diverse stress-responsive methylation alteration in male and female flowers. Male flower methylation was more responsive to stress whereas female flower methylation varied less under stress. Early flowering of male papaya in spring might be associated with the variation in the transcription of CpSVP and CpAP1 coinciding with their gene-specific hypomethylation. These findings provide insights into the sex-specific DNA methylation and gene expression landscapes of dioecious papaya and a foundation to investigate the correlation between differentiated floral characteristics and their candidate genes.
Project description:DNA methylation plays a critical role in brain aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). While prior studies have largely focused on testing mean DNA methylation, DNA methylation instability (quantified by DNA methylation variability) may also affect disease susceptibility. Using DNA methylation data collected by the Religious Orders Study and the Rush Memory and Aging Project, we identified 249 and 115 variably methylated probes (VMPs) associated with amyloid-β and neurofibrillary tangles, respectively. These VMPs clustered into 133 and 14 regions, respectively. Notably, we found that most of these VMPs did not overlap with differentially methylated probes, indicating that VMPs and differentially methylated probes may capture different sets of genes associated with AD pathology. Overall, our results demonstrated that DNA methylation instability affects AD neuropathology and highlights the importance of testing methylation variability in epigenetic research.
Project description:BackgroundBreast intraductal papilloma (IP) is mainly caused by the abnormal proliferation of ductal epithelial cells. Tree shrews have potential as an animal model for the study of breast tumours; however, little is known regarding the transcriptome and DNA methylome landscapes of breast IP in tree shrews. In this research, we conducted whole-genome DNA methylation and transcriptome analyses of breast IP and normal mammary glands in tree shrews.MethodsDNA methylation profiles were generated from the whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and whole-transcriptome landscapes of IP and control groups of tree shrews through strand-specific library construction and RNA sequencing. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes functional enrichment analyses and gene set enrichment analysis were performed. Spearman's correlation analysis was used to identify statistical relationships between gene expression and DNA methylation.ResultsA genome-wide perspective of the epigenetic regulation of protein-coding genes in breast IP in tree shrews was obtained. The methylation levels at CG sites were considerably higher than those at CHG or CHH sites, and were highest in gene body regions. In total, 3,486, 82 and 361 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified in the context of CG, CHG, and CHH, respectively, and 701 differentially methylated genes (DMGs) were found. Further, through transcriptomic analysis, 62 differentially expressed genes, 50 long noncoding RNAs, and 32 circular RNAs were identified in breast IP compared to normal mammary glands. Correlation analysis between the DNA methylation and transcriptome data revealed that 25 DMGs were also differentially expressed genes, among which the expression levels of 9 genes were negatively correlated with methylation levels in gene body regions. Importantly, integrated analysis identified 3 genes (PDZ domain-containing 1, ATPase plasma membrane Ca2+ transporting 4 and Lymphocyte cytosolic protein 1) that could serve as candidates for further study of breast IP in tree shrews.ConclusionsThis research has unearthed the comprehensive landscape of the transcriptome and DNA methylome of spontaneous IP in tree shrews, as well as candidate tumorigenesis related genes in IP. These results will contribute to the use of tree shrews in animal models of breast tumours.