title: DNA methylation profiling of human chromosomes 6, 20 and 22.
abstract: DNA methylation is the most stable type of epigenetic modification modulating the transcriptional plasticity of mammalian genomes. Using bisulfite DNA sequencing, we report high-resolution methylation profiles of human chromosomes 6, 20 and 22, providing a resource of about 1.9 million CpG methylation values derived from 12 different tissues. Analysis of six annotation categories showed that evolutionarily conserved regions are the predominant sites for differential DNA methylation and that a core region surrounding the transcriptional start site is an informative surrogate for promoter methylation. We find that 17% of the 873 analyzed genes are differentially methylated in their 5' UTRs and that about one-third of the differentially methylated 5' UTRs are inversely correlated with transcription. Despite the fact that our study controlled for factors reported to affect DNA methylation such as sex and age, we did not find any significant attributable effects. Our data suggest DNA methylation to be ontogenetically more stable than previously thought.
authors.affiliation: Epigenomics AG, Kleine Präsidentstrasse 1, 10178 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eckhardt
authors.forename: Joern
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lewin
authors.forename: Rene
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cortese
authors.forename: Vardhman K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Rakyan
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Attwood
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burger
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Burton
authors.forename: Tony V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Down
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Haefliger
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Horton
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Howe
authors.forename: David K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kunde
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Koenig
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liddle
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Niblett
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pettett
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Seemann
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olek
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Berlin
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beck
mesh_terms: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D002890:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 20 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002892:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 22 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002896:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 6 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008875:Middle Aged; D009928:Organ Specificity; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013045:Species Specificity; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions