Genome-wide DNA methylation differences in nucleus accumbens of smokers vs. nonsmokers
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ABSTRACT: Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. Cigarette smoking behaviors (e.g., initiation, nicotine dependence, cessation) are heritable, and many genetic risk loci have been identified. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the genetic risk loci along the trajectory of smoking are largely unknown. DNA methylation (DNAm) differences between smokers and nonsmokers can provide insight into mechanisms that predispose to smoking behaviors and consequences of the smoking exposure itself. Differential DNAm by smoking has been found at many CpG sites in blood, but because of the tissue specificity of gene regulation, differential DNAm that can only be detected in brain may have been missed. Here, we provide Illumina HumanMethylationEPIC array data generated in nucleus accumbens, an addiction-relevant brain tissue, from 221 deceased individuals: 53 current cigarette smokers, 168 nonsmokers. From these data, we have conducted an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) and identified several CpG associations with smoking. A subset of the identified CpGs map to genes that were previously indicated as blood-based smoking DNAm biomarkers, but the other CpGs map to genes that were previously undetected in blood and may reflect brain-specific processes related to smoking.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE147040 | GEO | 2020/05/01
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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