Characterizing the dynamic and functional DNA methylation landscape in the developing human cortex.

ABSTRACT: DNA methylation (DNAm) is a key epigenetic regulator of gene expression across development. The developing prenatal brain is a highly dynamic tissue, but our understanding of key drivers of epigenetic variability across development is limited. We, therefore, assessed genomic methylation at over 39 million sites in the prenatal cortex using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and found loci and regions in which methylation levels are dynamic across development. We saw that DNAm at these loci was associated with nearby gene expression and enriched for enhancer chromatin states in prenatal brain tissue. Additionally, these loci were enriched for genes associated with neuropsychiatric disorders and genes involved with neurogenesis. We also found autosomal differences in DNAm between the sexes du

SUBMITTER: Perzel Mandell KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7889237 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature