title: Sharing a Placenta is Associated With a Greater Similarity in DNA Methylation in Monochorionic Versus Dichorionic Twin Pars in Blood at Age 14.
abstract: Monozygotic (MZ) twins provide a natural system for investigating developmental plasticity and the potential epigenetic origins of disease. A major difference in the intrauterine environment between MZ pairs is whether they share a common placenta or have separate placentas. Using DNA methylation measured at >400,000 points in the genome on the Illumina HumanMethylation450 array, we demonstrate that the co-twins of MZ pairs (average age of 14) that shared a common placenta (n = 18 pairs) have more similar DNA methylation levels in blood throughout the genome relative to those with separate placentas (n = 16 pairs). Functional annotation of the genomic regions that show significantly different correlation between monochorionic (MC) and dichorionic (DC) MZ pairs found an over-representation of genes involved in the regulation of transcription, neuronal development, and cellular differentiation. These results support the idea that prenatal environmental exposures may have a lasting effect on an individual's epigenetic landscape, and the potential for these changes to have functional consequences.
authors.affiliation: The Queensland Brain Institute,University of Queensland,Brisbane,Queensland,Australia.
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.affiliation: The Queensland Brain Institute,University of Queensland,Brisbane,Queensland,Australia.
authors.forename: Beben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Benyamin
authors.affiliation: The Queensland Brain Institute,University of Queensland,Brisbane,Queensland,Australia.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: The Queensland Brain Institute,University of Queensland,Brisbane,Queensland,Australia.
authors.forename: Anjali K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Henders
authors.affiliation: QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute,Brisbane,Queensland,Australia.
authors.forename: Nicholas G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute,Brisbane,Queensland,Australia.
authors.forename: Grant W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.affiliation: The Queensland Brain Institute,University of Queensland,Brisbane,Queensland,Australia.
authors.forename: Allan F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: McRae
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002823:Chorion; D019175:DNA Methylation; D005260:Female; D006403:Hematologic Tests; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta; D011247:Pregnancy; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000235:genetics*; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: DNA methylation; chorionicity; monozygotic twins