Tissue-specific DNA methylation is conserved across human, mouse, and rat, and driven by primary sequence conservation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Uncovering mechanisms of epigenome evolution is an essential step towards understanding the evolution of different cellular phenotypes. While studies have confirmed DNA methylation as a conserved epigenetic mechanism in mammalian development, little is known about the conservation of tissue-specific genome-wide DNA methylation patterns.

Results

Using a comparative epigenomics approach, we identified and compared the tissue-specific DNA methylation patterns of rat against those of mouse and human across three shared tissue types. We confirmed that tissue-specific differentially methylated regions are strongly associated with tissue-specific regulatory elements. Comparisons between species revealed that at a minimum 11-37% of tissue-specific DNA methylation patterns

SUBMITTER: Zhou J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5596466 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature