Accounting for cellular heterogeneity is critical in epigenome-wide association studies.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Epigenome-wide association studies of human disease and other quantitative traits are becoming increasingly common. A series of papers reporting age-related changes in DNA methylation profiles in peripheral blood have already been published. However, blood is a heterogeneous collection of different cell types, each with a very different DNA methylation profile.

Results

Using a statistical method that permits estimating the relative proportion of cell types from DNA methylation profiles, we examine data from five previously published studies, and find strong evidence of cell composition change across age in blood. We also demonstrate that, in these studies, cellular composition explains much of the observed variability in DNA methylation. Furthermore, we find high

SUBMITTER: Jaffe AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4053810 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature