Gene Body Methylation Research Articles

Bimodal signatures of germline methylation are linked with gene expression plasticity in the coral Acropora millepora.

BackgroundIn invertebrates, genes belonging to dynamically regulated functional categories appear to be less methylated than “housekeeping” genes, suggesting that DNA methylation may modulate gene expression plasticity. To date, however, experimental evidence to support this hypothesis across different natural habitats has been lacking.ResultsGene expression profiles were generated from 30 pairs of genetically identical fragments of coral Acropora millepora reciprocally transplanted between distinct natural habitats for 3 months. Gene expression was analyzed in the context of normalized CpG content, a well-established signature of historical germline DNA methylation. Genes with weak methylation signatures were more likely to demonstrate differential expression based on both transplant environment and population of origin than genes with strong methylation signatures. Moreover, the magnitude of expression differences due to environment and population were greater for genes with weak methylation signatures.ConclusionsOur results support a connection between differential germline methylation and gene expression flexibility across environments and populations. Studies of phylogenetically basal invertebrates such as corals will further elucidate the fundamental functional aspects of gene body methylation in Metazoa.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-1109) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Acute Depletion Redefines the Division of Labor among DNA Methyltransferases in Methylating the Human Genome

Global patterns of DNA methylation, mediated by the DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), are disrupted in all cancers by mechanisms that remain largely unknown, hampering their development as therapeutic targets. Combinatorial acute depletion of all DNMTs in a pluripotent human tumor cell line, followed by epigenome and transcriptome analysis, revealed DNMT functions in fine detail. DNMT3B occupancy regulates methylation during differentiation, whereas an unexpected interplay was discovered in which DNMT1 and DNMT3B antithetically regulate methylation and hydroxymethylation in gene bodies, a finding confirmed in other cell types. DNMT3B mediated non-CpG methylation, whereas DNMT3L influenced the activity of DNMT3B toward non-CpG versus CpG site methylation. Altogether, these data reveal functional targets of each DNMT, suggesting that isoform selective inhibition would be therapeutically advantageous.

DNA methylation in social insects: how epigenetics can control behavior and longevity.

In eusocial insects, genetically identical individuals can exhibit striking differences in behavior and longevity. The molecular basis of such phenotypic plasticity is of great interest to the scientific community. DNA methylation, as well as other epigenetic signals, plays an important role in modulating gene expression and can therefore establish, sustain, and alter organism-level phenotypes, including behavior and life span. Unlike DNA methylation in mammals, DNA methylation in insects, including eusocial insects, is enriched in gene bodies of actively expressed genes. Recent investigations have revealed the important role of gene body methylation in regulating gene expression in response to intrinsic and environmental factors. In this review, we summarize recent advances in DNA methylation research and discuss its significance in our understanding of the epigenetic underpinnings of behavior and longevity.

Divergence of gene body DNA methylation and evolution of plant duplicate genes.

It has been shown that gene body DNA methylation is associated with gene expression. However, whether and how deviation of gene body DNA methylation between duplicate genes can influence their divergence remains largely unexplored. Here, we aim to elucidate the potential role of gene body DNA methylation in the fate of duplicate genes. We identified paralogous gene pairs from Arabidopsis and rice (Oryza sativa ssp. japonica) genomes and reprocessed their single-base resolution methylome data. We show that methylation in paralogous genes nonlinearly correlates with several gene properties including exon number/gene length, expression level and mutation rate. Further, we demonstrated that divergence of methylation level and pattern in paralogs indeed positively correlate with their sequence and expression divergences. This result held even after controlling for other confounding factors known to influence the divergence of paralogs. We observed that methylation level divergence might be more relevant to the expression divergence of paralogs than methylation pattern divergence. Finally, we explored the mechanisms that might give rise to the divergence of gene body methylation in paralogs. We found that exonic methylation divergence more closely correlates with expression divergence than intronic methylation divergence. We show that genomic environments (e.g., flanked by transposable elements and repetitive sequences) of paralogs generated by various duplication mechanisms are associated with the methylation divergence of paralogs. Overall, our results suggest that the changes in gene body DNA methylation could provide another avenue for duplicate genes to develop differential expression patterns and undergo different evolutionary fates in plant genomes.

Oligonucleotide treatment causes flax β-glucanase up-regulation via changes in gene-body methylation.

BackgroundNowadays, the challenge for biotechnology is to develop tools for agriculture and industry to provide plants characterized by productivity and quality that will satisfy the growing demand for different kinds of natural products. To meet the challenge, the generation and application of genetically modified plants is justified. However, the strong social resistance to genetically modified organisms and restrictive regulations in European Union countries necessitated the development of a new technology for new plant types generation which uses the knowledge resulting from analysis of genetically modified plants to generate favourably altered plants while omitting the introduction of heterologous genes to their genome. Four-year experiments led to the development of a technology inducing heritable epigenetic gene activation without transgenesis.ResultsThe method comprises the induction of changes in methylation/demethylation of the endogenous gene by the plant’s treatment with short oligodeoxynucleotides antisense to the coding region. In vitro cultured plants and F3 generation flax plants overproducing the β-1,3-glucanase gene (EMO-βGlu flax) were characterized by up-regulation of β-glucanase and chitinase genes, decreases in the methylation of CCGG sequences in the β-glucanase gene and in total DNA methylation and, more importantly, reasonable resistance against Fusarium infection. In addition, EMO-βGlu flax obtained by this technology showed similar features as those obtained by genetic engineering.ConclusionTo our best knowledge, this is the first report on plant gene activation by treatment with oligodeoxynucleotides homologous to the coding region of the gene. Apart from the evident effectiveness, the most important issue is that the EMO method allows generation of favourably altered plants, whose cultivation makes the plant producer independent from the complicated procedure of obtaining an agreement on GMO release into the environment and whose products might be more easily introduced to the global market.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-014-0261-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

5-Aza-CdR Delivers a Gene Body Blow

In this issue of Cancer Cell, Yang etal. describe a causal relationship between gene body methylation and gene expression and a role for genic methylation in response to clinical DNA methylation inhibitors, which suggests that the mechanism of action of these inhibitors includes gene body hypomethylation-induced downregulation of cancer-associated genes.

Gene Body Methylation Can Alter Gene Expression and Is a Therapeutic Target in Cancer

DNA methylation in promoters is well known to silence genes and is the presumed therapeutic target of methylation inhibitors. Gene body methylation is positively correlated with expression, yet its function is unknown. We show that 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine treatment not only reactivates genes but decreases the overexpression of genes, many of which are involved in metabolic processes regulated by c-MYC. Downregulation is caused by DNA demethylation of the gene bodies and restoration of high levels of expression requires remethylation by DNMT3B. Gene body methylation may, therefore, be an unexpected therapeutic target for DNA methylation inhibitors, resulting in the normalization of gene overexpression induced during carcinogenesis. Our results provide direct evidence for a causal relationship between gene body methylation and transcription.

P04.18 * PROGNOSIS IMPACT OF THE REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF MGMT GENE METHYLATION ACCORDING TO THE CPGISLAND METHYLATOR PHENOTYPE AND AGE IN HIGH-GRADE GLIOMAS

Clinical and molecular prognostic factors in gliomas include age, IDH mutation, the glioma CpG island methylator phenotype (G-CIMP) and promoter methylation of the O6-methylguanine DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) gene, among others. Clinical trials supported the predictive value of MGMT promoter methylation for benefit from alkylating chemotherapy in elderly GBM patients. In this study, methylation data were obtained from 46 oligodendroglial samples with the Illumina 450K platform, and were analyzed with external data to reach a total 247 glioma samples. MGMT gene methylation analysis with this platform revealed two significant survival-associated CpG regions, one within the promoter (cg12981137) and the other within the gene body (cg07933035), both significantly associated with better overall survival (OS) and strongly correlated with the G-CIMP+ status. However, although around 50% of G-CIMP- tumors were MGMT methylated on these CpG sites, their prognostic relevance were not observed in these patients. Only the gene body methylation was prognostic, but in the context of age, showing significant differences of OS in elderly patients. The absence of the MGMT promoter prognostic value in G-CIMP- tumors was validated in an independent series of 59 chemoradiated GBM patients by MSP and qMSP assays. Our study suggests that the prognostic value of MGMT methylation should be reviewed in the context of specific G-CIMP profiles and age groups. Further analysis on the impact of MGMT methylation on gene and protein expression is necessary for better clinical treatment settings. The routine use of MGMT methylation for the individual treatment of patients should be still viewed with caution.

Significant association between DRD3 gene body methylation and schizophrenia

The current study was the first one to reveal the contribution of DRD3 methylation to the risk of different (SCZ) subtypes. This study comprised a total of 30 paranoid (15 males and 15 females) and 29 undifferentiated (15 males and 14 females) SCZ patients and 26 age- and gender-matched controls. Our results showed a significant association of CpG2 with SCZ. A breakdown analysis by gender showed that CpG2 and CpG3 methylation were significantly higher in male patients than male controls, and that CpG5 methylation was significantly higher in female patients than female controls. A further breakdown analysis by both gender and SCZ subtype showed that CpG2 and CpG3 methylation were significantly higher in male paranoid SCZ and male undifferentiated SCZ than male controls. In contrast, CpG2 and CpG3 methylation were significantly lower in female undifferentiated SCZ than female controls. Additionally, CpG5 methylation was significantly higher in female paranoid SCZ than female controls. In conclusion, our findings supported that DRD3 gene body hypermethylation was significantly associated with the risk of SCZ. Future study is needed to clarify the mechanisms by which DRD3 gene body hypermethylation contributes to the risk of SCZ.

The diversity of small non-coding RNAs in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum.

BackgroundMarine diatoms constitute a major component of eukaryotic phytoplankton and stand at the crossroads of several evolutionary lineages. These microalgae possess peculiar genomic features and novel combinations of genes acquired from bacterial, animal and plant ancestors. Furthermore, they display both DNA methylation and gene silencing activities. Yet, the biogenesis and regulatory function of small RNAs (sRNAs) remain ill defined in diatoms.ResultsHere we report the first comprehensive characterization of the sRNA landscape and its correlation with genomic and epigenomic information in Phaeodactylum tricornutum. The majority of sRNAs is 25 to 30 nt-long and maps to repetitive and silenced Transposable Elements marked by DNA methylation. A subset of this population also targets DNA methylated protein-coding genes, suggesting that gene body methylation might be sRNA-driven in diatoms. Remarkably, 25-30 nt sRNAs display a well-defined and unprecedented 180 nt-long periodic distribution at several highly methylated regions that awaits characterization. While canonical miRNAs are not detectable, other 21-25 nt sRNAs of unknown origin are highly expressed. Besides, non-coding RNAs with well-described function, namely tRNAs and U2 snRNA, constitute a major source of 21-25 nt sRNAs and likely play important roles under stressful environmental conditions.ConclusionsP. tricornutum has evolved diversified sRNA pathways, likely implicated in the regulation of largely still uncharacterized genetic and epigenetic processes. These results uncover an unexpected complexity of diatom sRNA population and previously unappreciated features, providing new insights into the diversification of sRNA-based processes in eukaryotes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-698) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of multiple individuals reveals complementary roles of promoter and gene body methylation in transcriptional regulation.

BackgroundDNA methylation is an important type of epigenetic modification involved in gene regulation. Although strong DNA methylation at promoters is widely recognized to be associated with transcriptional repression, many aspects of DNA methylation remain not fully understood, including the quantitative relationships between DNA methylation and expression levels, and the individual roles of promoter and gene body methylation.ResultsHere we present an integrated analysis of whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and RNA sequencing data from human samples and cell lines. We find that while promoter methylation inversely correlates with gene expression as generally observed, the repressive effect is clear only on genes with a very high DNA methylation level. By means of statistical modeling, we find that DNA methylation is indicative of the expression class of a gene in general, but gene body methylation is a better indicator than promoter methylation. These findings are general in that a model constructed from a sample or cell line could accurately fit the unseen data from another. We further find that promoter and gene body methylation have minimal redundancy, and either one is sufficient to signify low expression. Finally, we obtain increased modeling power by integrating histone modification data with the DNA methylation data, showing that neither type of information fully subsumes the other.ConclusionOur results suggest that DNA methylation outside promoters also plays critical roles in gene regulation. Future studies on gene regulatory mechanisms and disease-associated differential methylation should pay more attention to DNA methylation at gene bodies and other non-promoter regions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-014-0408-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Impacts of pretranscriptional DNA methylation, transcriptional transcription factor, and posttranscriptional microRNA regulations on protein evolutionary rate.

Gene expression is largely regulated by DNA methylation, transcription factor (TF), and microRNA (miRNA) before, during, and after transcription, respectively. Although the evolutionary effects of TF/miRNA regulations have been widely studied, evolutionary analysis of simultaneously accounting for DNA methylation, TF, and miRNA regulations and whether promoter methylation and gene body (coding regions) methylation have different effects on the rate of gene evolution remain uninvestigated. Here, we compared human–macaque and human–mouse protein evolutionary rates against experimentally determined single base-resolution DNA methylation data, revealing that promoter methylation level is positively correlated with protein evolutionary rates but negatively correlated with TF/miRNA regulations, whereas the opposite was observed for gene body methylation level. Our results showed that the relative importance of these regulatory factors in determining the rate of mammalian protein evolution is as follows: Promoter methylation ≈ miRNA regulation > gene body methylation > TF regulation, and further indicated that promoter methylation and miRNA regulation have a significant dependent effect on protein evolutionary rates. Although the mechanisms underlying cooperation between DNA methylation and TFs/miRNAs in gene regulation remain unclear, our study helps to not only illuminate the impact of these regulatory factors on mammalian protein evolution but also their intricate interaction within gene regulatory networks.

Methylation and gene expression responses to ethanol feeding and betaine supplementation in the cystathionine beta synthase-deficient mouse.

Alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH) is caused in part by the effects of ethanol (EtOH) on hepatic methionine metabolism. To investigate the phenotypic and epigenetic consequences of altered methionine metabolism in this disease, we studied the effects of 4-week intragastric EtOH feeding with and without the methyl donor betaine in cystathionine beta synthase (CβS) heterozygous C57BL/6J mice. The histopathology of early ASH was induced by EtOH feeding and prevented by betaine supplementation, while EtOH feeding reduced and betaine supplementation maintained the hepatic methylation ratio of the universal methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) to the methyltransferase inhibitor S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH). MethylC-seq genomic sequencing of heterozygous liver samples from each diet group found 2 to 4% reduced methylation in gene bodies, but not promoter regions of all autosomes of EtOH-fed mice, each of which were normalized in samples from mice fed the betaine-supplemented diet. The transcript levels of nitric oxide synthase (Nos2) and DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) were increased, while those of peroxisome proliferator receptor-α (Pparα) were reduced in EtOH-fed mice, and each was normalized in mice fed the betaine-supplemented diet. DNA pyrosequencing of CβS heterozygous samples found reduced methylation in a gene body of Nos2 by EtOH feeding that was restored by betaine supplementation and was correlated inversely with its expression and positively with SAM/SAH ratios. The present study has demonstrated relationships among EtOH induction of ASH with aberrant methionine metabolism that was associated with gene body DNA hypomethylation in all autosomes and was prevented by betaine supplementation. The data imply that EtOH-induced changes in selected gene transcript levels and hypomethylation in gene bodies during the induction of ASH are a result of altered methionine metabolism that can be reversed through dietary supplementation of methyl donors.

Multiscale representation of genomic signals.

Genomic information is encoded on a wide range of distance scales, ranging from tens of base pairs to megabases. We developed a multiscale framework to analyze and visualize the information content of genomic signals. Different types of signals, such as GC content or DNA methylation, are characterized by distinct patterns of signal enrichment or depletion across scales spanning several orders of magnitude. These patterns are associated with a variety of genomic annotations, including genes, nuclear lamina associated domains, and repeat elements. By integrating the information across all scales, as compared to using any single scale, we demonstrate improved prediction of gene expression from Polymerase II chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) measurements and we observed that gene expression differences in colorectal cancer are not most strongly related to gene body methylation, but rather to methylation patterns that extend beyond the single-gene scale.

Epigenetic Variation, Inheritance, and Parent-of-Origin Effects of Cytosine Methylation in Maize (Zea mays)

Pure epigenetic variation, or epigenetic variation that is independent of genetic context, may provide a mechanism for phenotypic variation in the absence of DNA mutations. To estimate the extent of pure epigenetic variation within and across generations and to identify the DNA regions targeted, a group of eight plants derived from a highly inbred line of maize (Zea mays) was analyzed by the methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) technique. We found that cytosine methylation (mC) differences among individuals accounted for up to 7.4% of CCGG sites investigated by MSAP. Of the differentially methylated fragments (DMFs) identified in the S0 generation, ∼12% were meiotically inherited for at least six generations. We show that meiotically heritable mC variation was consistently generated for an average of 0.5% CCGG sites per generation and that it largely occurred somatically. We provide evidence that mC variation can be established and inherited in a parent-of-origin manner, given that the paternal lineage is more prone to both forward and reverse mC changes. The molecular characterization of selected DMFs revealed that the variation was largely determined by CG methylation changes that map within gene regions. The expression analysis of genes overlapping with DMFs did not reveal an obvious correlation between mC variation and transcription, reinforcing the idea that the primary function of gene-body methylation is not to control gene expression. Because this study focuses on epigenetic variation in field-grown plants, the data presented herein pertain to spontaneous epigenetic changes of the maize genome in a natural context.

Genome methylation in D. melanogaster is found at specific short motifs and is independent of DNMT2 activity

Cytosine methylation in the genome of Drosophila melanogaster has been elusive and controversial: Its location and function have not been established. We have used a novel and highly sensitive genomewide cytosine methylation assay to detect and map genome methylation in stage 5 Drosophila embryos. The methylation we observe with this method is highly localized and strand asymmetrical, limited to regions covering ∼1% of the genome, dynamic in early embryogenesis, and concentrated in specific 5-base sequence motifs that are CA- and CT-rich but depleted of guanine. Gene body methylation is associated with lower expression, and many genes containing methylated regions have developmental or transcriptional functions. The only known DNA methyltransferase in Drosophila is the DNMT2 homolog MT2, but lines deficient for MT2 retain genomic methylation, implying the presence of a novel methyltransferase. The association of methylation with a lower expression of specific developmental genes at stage 5 raises the possibility that it participates in controlling gene expression during the maternal-zygotic transition.

Global and gene‐specific DNA methylation across multiple tissues in early infancy: implications for children's health research

An increasing number of population studies are assessing epigenetic variation in relation to early-life outcomes in tissues accessible to epidemiologic researchers. Epigenetic mechanisms are highly tissue specific, however, and it is unclear whether the variation observed in one of the tissue types is representative of other sources or whether the variation in DNA methylation is distinct, reflecting potential functional differences across tissues. To assess relations between DNA methylation in various samples from newborns and children in early infancy, we measured promoter or gene-body DNA methylation in matched term placenta, cord blood, and 3-6 mo saliva samples from 27 unrelated infants enrolled in the Rhode Island Child Health Study. We investigated 7 gene loci (KLF15, NR3C1, LEP, DEPTOR, DDIT4, HSD11B2, and CEBPB) and global methylation, using repetitive region LINE-1 and ALUYb8 sequences. We observed a great degree of interlocus, intertissue, and interindividual epigenetic variation in most of the analyzed loci. In correlation analyses, only cord blood NR3C1 promoter methylation correlated negatively with methylation in saliva. We conclude that placenta, cord blood, and saliva cannot be used as a substitute for one another to evaluate DNA methylation at these loci during infancy. Each tissue has a unique epigenetic signature that likely reflects their differential functions. Future studies should consider the uniqueness of these features, to improve epigenetic biomarker discovery and translation.

Genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation in bovine placentas

BackgroundDNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification that is essential for epigenetic gene regulation in development and disease. To date, the genome-wide DNA methylation maps of many organisms have been reported, but the methylation pattern of cattle remains unknown.ResultsWe showed the genome-wide DNA methylation map in placental tissues using methylated DNA immunoprecipitation combined with high-throughput sequencing (MeDIP-seq). In cattle, the methylation levels in the gene body are relatively high, whereas the promoter remains hypomethylated. We obtained thousands of highly methylated regions (HMRs), methylated CpG islands, and methylated genes from bovine placenta. DNA methylation levels around the transcription start sites of genes are negatively correlated with the gene expression level. However, the relationship between gene-body DNA methylation and gene expression is non-monotonic. Moderately expressed genes generally have the highest levels of gene-body DNA methylation, whereas the highly, and lowly expressed genes, as well as silent genes, show moderate DNA methylation levels. Genes with the highest expression show the lowest DNA methylation levels.ConclusionsWe have generated the genome-wide mapping of DNA methylation in cattle for the first time, and our results can be used for future studies on epigenetic gene regulation in cattle. This study contributes to the knowledge on epigenetics in cattle.

Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of multiple individuals reveals complementary roles of promoter and gene body methylation in transcriptional regulation

DNA methylation is an important type of epigenetic modification involved in gene regulation. Although strong DNA methylation at promoters is widely recognized to be associated with transcriptional repression, many aspects of DNA methylation remain not fully understood, including the quantitative relationships between DNA methylation and expression levels, and the individual roles of promoter and gene body methylation. Here we present an integrated analysis of whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and RNA sequencing data from human samples and cell lines. We find that while promoter methylation inversely correlates with gene expression as generally observed, the repressive effect is clear only on genes with a very high DNA methylation level. By means of statistical modeling, we find that DNA methylation is indicative of the expression class of a gene in general, but gene body methylation is a better indicator than promoter methylation. These findings are general in that a model constructed from a sample or cell line could accurately fit the unseen data from another. We further find that promoter and gene body methylation have minimal redundancy, and either one is sufficient to signify low expression. Finally, we obtain increased modeling power by integrating histone modification data with the DNA methylation data, showing that neither type of information fully subsumes the other. Our results suggest that DNA methylation outside promoters also plays critical roles in gene regulation. Future studies on gene regulatory mechanisms and disease-associated differential methylation should pay more attention to DNA methylation at gene bodies and other non-promoter regions.

Human-specific epigenetic variation in the immunological Leukotriene B4 Receptor (LTB4R/BLT1) implicated in common inflammatory diseases

BackgroundCommon human diseases are caused by the complex interplay of genetic susceptibility as well as environmental factors. Due to the environment’s influence on the epigenome, and therefore genome function, as well as conversely the genome’s facilitative effect on the epigenome, analysis of this level of regulation may increase our knowledge of disease pathogenesis.MethodsIn order to identify human-specific epigenetic influences, we have performed a novel genome-wide DNA methylation analysis comparing human, chimpanzee and rhesus macaque.ResultsWe have identified that the immunological Leukotriene B4 receptor (LTB4R, BLT1 receptor) is the most epigenetically divergent human gene in peripheral blood in comparison with other primates. This difference is due to the co-ordinated active state of human-specific hypomethylation in the promoter and human-specific increased gene body methylation. This gene is significant in innate immunity and the LTB4/LTB4R pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of the spectrum of human inflammatory diseases. This finding was confirmed by additional neutrophil-only DNA methylome and lymphoblastoid H3K4me3 chromatin comparative data. Additionally we show through functional analysis that this receptor has increased expression and a higher response to the LTB4 ligand in human versus rhesus macaque peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Genome-wide we also find human species-specific differentially methylated regions (human s-DMRs) are more prevalent in CpG island shores than within the islands themselves, and within the latter are associated with the CTCF motif.ConclusionsThis result further emphasises the exclusive nature of the human immunological system, its divergent adaptation even from very closely related primates, and the power of comparative epigenomics to identify and understand human uniqueness.