Functional annotation of the human brain methylome identifies tissue-specific epigenetic variation across brain and blood.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Dynamic changes to the epigenome play a critical role in establishing and maintaining cellular phenotype during differentiation, but little is known about the normal methylomic differences that occur between functionally distinct areas of the brain. We characterized intra- and inter-individual methylomic variation across whole blood and multiple regions of the brain from multiple donors.

Results

Distinct tissue-specific patterns of DNA methylation were identified, with a highly significant over-representation of tissue-specific differentially methylated regions (TS-DMRs) observed at intragenic CpG islands and low CG density promoters. A large proportion of TS-DMRs were located near genes that are differentially expressed across brain regions. TS-DMRs were signific

SUBMITTER: Davies MN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3446315 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature