Dataset Information

Genetic analysis of the cardiac methylome at single nucleotide resolution in a model of human cardiovascular disease.

ABSTRACT: Epigenetic marks such as cytosine methylation are important determinants of cellular and whole-body phenotypes. However, the extent of, and reasons for inter-individual differences in cytosine methylation, and their association with phenotypic variation are poorly characterised. Here we present the first genome-wide study of cytosine methylation at single-nucleotide resolution in an animal model of human disease. We used whole-genome bisulfite sequencing in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), a model of cardiovascular disease, and the Brown Norway (BN) control strain, to define the genetic architecture of cytosine methylation in the mammalian heart and to test for association between methylation and pathophysiological phenotypes. Analysis of 10.6 million CpG dinucleotides identified 77,088 CpGs that were differentially methylated between the strains. In F1 hybrids we found 38,152 CpGs showing allele-specific methylation and 145 regions with parent-of-origin effects on methylation. Cis-linkage explained almost 60% of inter-strain variation in methylation at a subset of loci tested for linkage in a panel of recombinant inbred (RI) strains. Methylation analysis in isolated cardiomyocytes showed that in the majority of cases methylation differences in cardiomyocytes and non-cardiomyocytes were strain-dependent, confirming a strong genetic component for cytosine methylation. We observed preferential nucleotide usage associated with increased and decreased methylation that is remarkably conserved across species, suggesting a common mechanism for germline control of inter-individual variation in CpG methylation. In the RI strain panel, we found significant correlation of CpG methylation and levels of serum chromogranin B (CgB), a proposed biomarker of heart failure, which is evidence for a link between germline DNA sequence variation, CpG methylation differences and pathophysiological phenotypes in the SHR strain. Together, these results will stimulate further investigation of the molecular basis of locally regulated variation in CpG methylation and provide a starting point for understanding the relationship between the genetic control of CpG methylation and disease phenotypes.

SUBMITTER: Johnson MD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4256262 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Genetic analysis of the cardiac methylome at single nucleotide resolution in a model of human cardiovascular disease.

Johnson Michelle D MD Mueller Michael M Adamowicz-Brice Martyna M Collins Melissa J MJ Gellert Pascal P Maratou Klio K Srivastava Prashant K PK Rotival Maxime M Butt Shahena S Game Laurence L Atanur Santosh S SS Silver Nicholas N Norsworthy Penny J PJ Langley Sarah R SR Petretto Enrico E Pravenec Michal M Aitman Timothy J TJ

PLoS genetics 20141204 12

Epigenetic marks such as cytosine methylation are important determinants of cellular and whole-body phenotypes. However, the extent of, and reasons for inter-individual differences in cytosine methylation, and their association with phenotypic variation are poorly characterised. Here we present the first genome-wide study of cytosine methylation at single-nucleotide resolution in an animal model of human disease. We used whole-genome bisulfite sequencing in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SH ...[more]

PMID: 25474312

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Project description:Dear Editor, The recent article by Mohammadzadeh et al.[1] on the latest issue of this Journal showed that the T allele +276G/T SNP of ADIPOQ gene is more associated with the increasing risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in subjects with type 2 diabetes. Adipocytes were described in myocardial tissue of CAD patients and their role recently discussed[2,3]. Susceptibility to CAD by polymorphism in the Q gene of adiponectin has been reported for 3'-UTR, which harbours some genetic loci associated with metabolic risks and atherosclerosis[4]. Actually, previous studies have shown that the haplotype SNP +276G>T was associated with a decreased risk of CAD, after adjustment for potential confounding factors, therefore some controversial opinion still exists[5]. This evidence should be associated with the role exerted by adipocytes and adiponectin in heart physiology. In particular, in hypertensive disorder complicating pregnancy (HDCP), by investigating the population frequency of alleles, genotypes, and haplotypes of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), namely +45T>G (rs2241766) and +276G>T (rs1501299), some authors found that the SNP +276 TT genotype was significantly associated with protection against HDCP, when compared to the pooled G genotypes[6]. Moreover, the same +276G/T SNP haplotype was strongly associated with biliary atresia, an intractable neonatal inflammatory and obliterative cholangiopathy, leading to progressive fibrosis and cirrhosis[7]. CAD is closely related to adiponectin biology. The same isoforms of adiponectin seem to be not associated to CAD severity but to glucose metabolism and its impairment[8]. In the paper by Mohammadzadeh et al.[1], T allele in +276G/T SNP haplotype is highly associated with CAD in subjects with type 2 diabetes, but this linkage should be reappraised if related much more to diabetes rather than CAD. Association of T allele in the indicated SNP with CAD may be an indirect consequence of type 2 diabetes, as reported by others[9] or a direct marker for CAD affected patients[10]. The paper by Mohammadzadeh et al.[1] assesses data coming elsewhere from literature but raises important concerns about the suitability of ADIPOQ SNPs in diagnosing susceptibility to CAD and the relationship with plasma adiponectin level. In normal, non diabetic, normoglycemic subject, this relationship does not seem to work. Therefore the question is how much predictive this SNP haplotype may be to foresee metabolic syndrome and CAD onset risk in young health subjects? Maybe, the role of adiponectin in cardiovascular physiology depends on its ability to target adiponectin receptors and to negatively regulate obesity. Some authors reported in healthy volunteers an absence of correlation between circulating adiponectin levels and biochemical markers, particularly lipoproteins and suggested that SNP +276G>T was related to an independent effect on adiponectin levels and on lipoprotein metabolism[11]. On the contrary, adiponectin genetic variants and SNP +276G>T was associated with increasing susceptibility of type 2 diabetes and plasma glucose impairment[12]. The interesting study by Mohammadzadeh et al.[1] suggests that SNP of ADIPOQ +276G>T should be related to susceptibility to glucose metabolism, while indirectly to lipid metabolism and fat-related cardiovascular damage.

Dataset Information

Genetic analysis of the cardiac methylome at single nucleotide resolution in a model of human cardiovascular disease.

Publications

Genetic analysis of the cardiac methylome at single nucleotide resolution in a model of human cardiovascular disease.

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