Unknown

Dataset Information

0

Islet cells share promoter hypomethylation independently of expression, but exhibit cell-type-specific methylation in enhancers.


ABSTRACT: DNA methylation at promoters is an important determinant of gene expression. Earlier studies suggested that the insulin gene promoter is uniquely unmethylated in insulin-expressing pancreatic ?-cells, providing a classic example of this paradigm. Here we show that islet cells expressing insulin, glucagon, or somatostatin share a lack of methylation at the promoters of the insulin and glucagon genes. This is achieved by rapid demethylation of the insulin and glucagon gene promoters during differentiation of Neurogenin3+ embryonic endocrine progenitors, regardless of the specific endocrine cell-type chosen. Similar methylation dynamics were observed in transgenic mice containing a human insulin promoter fragment, pointing to the responsible cis element. Whole-methylome comparison of human ?- and ?-cells revealed generality of the findings: genes active in one cell type and silent in the other tend to share demethylated promoters, while methylation differences between ?- and ?-cells are concentrated in enhancers. These findings suggest an epigenetic basis for the observed plastic identity of islet cell types, and have implications for ?-cell reprogramming in diabetes and diagnosis of ?-cell death using methylation patterns of circulating DNA.

SUBMITTER: Neiman D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5754795 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC4971744 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC4990226 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC5268820 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC5888794 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6872509 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC2835143 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC4972849 | biostudies-literature
2011-06-30 | E-GEOD-30298 | biostudies-arrayexpress
| S-EPMC4792657 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6284781 | biostudies-literature