DNA Methylation Analysis in Human Chorionic Villus and Maternal Blood Cells Using Custom Agilent CGH Arrays
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ABSTRACT: We present a detailed structural and functional analysis of the placental epigenome at its maternal interface. Specifically, we analyzed the DNA methylation pattern of chromsomes 13, 18, and 21 in samples of chorionic villus (CVS) and maternal blood cells (MBC) using custom designed microarrays. We then compared these data with transcription data for the same tissues. In addition to the discovery that CVS genomes are significantly more hypomethylated than their MBC counterparts, we identified numerous tissue-specific differentially methylated regions (T-DMRs). We further discovered that these T-DMRs are clustered spatially along the genome and are enriched for genes with tissue-specific biological functions. We identified unique patterns of DNA methylation associated with distinct genomic structures such as gene bodies, promoters and CpG islands and identified both direct and inverse relationships between DNA methylation levels and gene expression levels in gene bodies and promoters respectively. Furthermore, we found that these relationships were significantly associated with CpG content. We conclude that the early gestational placental DNA methylome is highly organized and is significantly associated with transcription. These data provide a unique insight into the structural and regulatory characteristics of the placental epigenome at its maternal interface and will drive future analyses of the role of placental dysfunction in gestational disease.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE23835 | GEO | 2010/08/27
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA130647
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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