Genome-wide DNA Methylation Maps Research Articles

Genome-Wide Mapping of DNA Methylation in Chicken

Cytosine DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification termed as the fifth base that functions in diverse processes. Till now, the genome-wide DNA methylation maps of many organisms has been reported, such as human, Arabidopsis, rice and silkworm, but the methylation pattern of bird remains rarely studied. Here we show the genome-wide DNA methylation map of bird, using the chicken as a model organism and an immunocapturing approach followed by high-throughput sequencing. In both of the red jungle fowl and the avian broiler, DNA methylation was described separately for the liver and muscle tissue. Generally, chicken displays analogous methylation pattern with that of animals and plants. DNA methylation is enriched in the gene body regions and the repetitive sequences, and depleted in the transcription start site (TSS) and the transcription termination site (TTS). Most of the CpG islands in the chicken genome are kept in unmethylated state. Promoter methylation is negatively correlated with the gene expression level, indicating its suppressive role in regulating gene transcription. This work contributes to our understanding of epigenetics in birds.

Correction: Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Maps in Follicular Lymphoma Cells Determined by Methylation-Enriched Bisulfite Sequencing

Correction: Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Maps in Follicular Lymphoma Cells Determined by Methylation-Enriched Bisulfite Sequencing

Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Maps in Follicular Lymphoma Cells Determined by Methylation-Enriched Bisulfite Sequencing

BackgroundFollicular lymphoma (FL) is a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) that arises from germinal center (GC) B-cells. Despite the significant advances in immunotherapy, FL is still not curable. Beyond transcriptional profiling and genomics datasets, there currently is no epigenome-scale dataset or integrative biology approach that can adequately model this disease and therefore identify novel mechanisms and targets for successful prevention and treatment of FL.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe performed methylation-enriched genome-wide bisulfite sequencing of FL cells and normal CD19+ B-cells using 454 sequencing technology. The methylated DNA fragments were enriched with methyl-binding proteins, treated with bisulfite, and sequenced using the Roche-454 GS FLX sequencer. The total number of bases covered in the human genome was 18.2 and 49.3 million including 726,003 and 1.3 million CpGs in FL and CD19+ B-cells, respectively. 11,971 and 7,882 methylated regions of interest (MRIs) were identified respectively. The genome-wide distribution of these MRIs displayed significant differences between FL and normal B-cells. A reverse trend in the distribution of MRIs between the promoter and the gene body was observed in FL and CD19+ B-cells. The MRIs identified in FL cells also correlated well with transcriptomic data and ChIP-on-Chip analyses of genome-wide histone modifications such as tri-methyl-H3K27, and tri-methyl-H3K4, indicating a concerted epigenetic alteration in FL cells.Conclusions/SignificanceThis study is the first to provide a large scale and comprehensive analysis of the DNA methylation sequence composition and distribution in the FL epigenome. These integrated approaches have led to the discovery of novel and frequent targets of aberrant epigenetic alterations. The genome-wide bisulfite sequencing approach developed here can be a useful tool for profiling DNA methylation in clinical samples.

Quantitative comparison of genome-wide DNA methylation mapping technologies

DNA methylation is a key component of mammalian gene regulation and the most classical example of an epigenetic mark. DNA methylation patterns are mitotically heritable and stable over time, but they undergo considerable changes in response to cell differentiation, diseases and environmental influences. Several methods have been developed for DNA methylation profiling on a genomic scale. Here, we benchmark four of these methods on two sample pairs, comparing their accuracy and power to detect DNA methylation differences. The results show that all evaluated methods (MeDIP-seq: methylated DNA immunoprecipitation, MethylCap-seq: methylated DNA capture by affinity purification, RRBS: reduced representation bisulfite sequencing, and the Infinium HumanMethylation27 assay) produce accurate DNA methylation data. However, these methods differ in their ability to detect differentially methylated regions between pairs of samples. We highlight strengths and weaknesses of the four methods and give practical recommendations for the design of epigenomic case-control studies.

Epigenetic performers in plants‡

Epigenetic research is at the forefront of plant biology and molecular genetics. Studies on higher plants underscore the significant role played by epigenetics in both plant development and stress response. Relatively recent advances in analytical methodology have allowed for a significant expansion of what is known about genome-wide mapping of DNA methylation and histone modifications. In this review, we explore the different modification patterns in plant epigenetics, and the key factors involved in the epigenetic process, in order to illustrate various putative mechanisms. Experimental technology to exploit these modifications, and proposed focus areas for future plant epigenetic research, are also presented.

Gene body DNA methylation in plants: a means to an end or an end to a means?

Cytosine methylation is widely known for its role in silencing transposable elements and some genes in plants and mammals. However, whereas methylation of promoter sequences can lead to transcriptional repression, the function of gene body methylation remains elusive. This situation is particularly perplexing in the plant Arabidopsis, where many genes are methylated, specifically, over their body. A new study in this issue of The EMBO Journal shows that gene body methylation results from two conflicting activities, one imposing it at CG sites, and one preventing its extension to CHG sites (where H=A,T or C). Importantly, the latter activity is not targeted towards silent transposable elements and is likely coupled to transcription elongation, suggesting that CHG methylation hinders this step.

An improved method for genome wide DNA methylation profiling correlated to transcription and genomic instability in two breast cancer cell lines

BackgroundDNA methylation is a widely studied epigenetic mechanism known to correlate with gene repression and genomic stability. Development of sensitive methods for global detection of DNA methylation events is of particular importance.ResultsWe here describe a technique, called modified methylation-specific digital karyotyping (MMSDK) based on methylation-specific digital karyotyping (MSDK) with a novel sequencing approach. Briefly, after a tandem digestion of genomic DNA with a methylation-sensitive mapping enzyme and a fragmenting enzyme, short sequence tags are obtained. These tags are amplified, followed by direct, massively parallel sequencing (Solexa 1G Genome Analyzer). This method allows high-throughput and low-cost genome-wide DNA methylation mapping. We applied this method to investigate global DNA methylation profiles for widely used breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, which are representatives for luminal-like and mesenchymal-like cancer types, respectively. By comparison, a highly similar overall DNA methylation pattern was revealed for the two cell lines. However a cohort of individual genomic loci with significantly different DNA methylation status between two cell lines was identified. Furthermore, we revealed a genome-wide significant correlation between gene expression and the methylation status of gene promoters with CpG islands (CGIs) in the two cancer cell lines, and a correlation of gene expression and the methylation status of promoters without CGIs in MCF-7 cells.ConclusionThe MMSDK method will be a valuable tool to increase the current knowledge of genome wide DNA methylation profiles.

Profils de méthylation de l’ADN dans les cellules normales et cancéreuses

In eukaryotes, the epigenetic mark DNA methylation is found exclusively at cytosine residues in the CpG islands of genes, transposons and intergenic DNA. Among functional roles, DNA methylation is essential for mammalian embryonic development, and is classically thought to function by stably silencing promoter activity. However, until recently, understanding of the distribution of cytosine methylation in the whole genome - and hence, identification of its targets - was very limited. High-throughput methodologies, including methylated DNA immunoprecipitation, have recently revealed genome-wide mapping of DNA methylation, and provided new and unexpected data. Clearly DNA methylation is selectively associated with some key promoters- and is not a prerequisite for promoter inactivation, since strong CpG island promoters are mostly unmethylated, even when inactive. Most germline-specific genes are methylated and permanently silenced in somatic cells, suggesting a role of this mark in maintaining somatic cellular identity. These large scale studies will also help understanding the deregulation of DNA methylation associated with cancer, among which unmethylation of germinal cells genes, and recent observtion of large hypomethylated regions in tumoral specimens. The next challenge will be to understand if these methylation changes occur randomly, or more likely are specified by oncogenes or linked to environmental pressure.

Genome-wide High-Resolution Mapping and Functional Analysis of DNA Methylation in Arabidopsis

Cytosine methylation is important for transposon silencing and epigenetic regulation of endogenous genes, although the extent to which this DNA modification functions to regulate the genome is still unknown. Here we report the first comprehensive DNA methylation map of an entire genome, at 35 base pair resolution, using the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana as a model. We find that pericentromeric heterochromatin, repetitive sequences, and regions producing small interfering RNAs are heavily methylated. Unexpectedly, over one-third of expressed genes contain methylation within transcribed regions, whereas only approximately 5% of genes show methylation within promoter regions. Interestingly, genes methylated in transcribed regions are highly expressed and constitutively active, whereas promoter-methylated genes show a greater degree of tissue-specific expression. Whole-genome tiling-array transcriptional profiling of DNA methyltransferase null mutants identified hundreds of genes and intergenic noncoding RNAs with altered expression levels, many of which may be epigenetically controlled by DNA methylation.