Epigenetic variation in monozygotic twins: a genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation in buccal cells.

ABSTRACT: DNA methylation is one of the most extensively studied epigenetic marks in humans. Yet, it is largely unknown what causes variation in DNA methylation between individuals. The comparison of DNA methylation profiles of monozygotic (MZ) twins offers a unique experimental design to examine the extent to which such variation is related to individual-specific environmental influences and stochastic events or to familial factors (DNA sequence and shared environment). We measured genome-wide DNA methylation in buccal samples from ten MZ pairs (age 8-19) using the Illumina 450k array and examined twin correlations for methylation level at 420,921 CpGs after QC. After selecting CpGs showing the most variation in the methylation level between subjects, the mean genome-wide correlation (rho) was 0.54

SUBMITTER: van Dongen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4094937 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature