Differential DNA Methylation Landscape in Skin Fibroblasts from African Americans with Systemic Sclerosis.

ABSTRACT: The etiology and reasons underlying the ethnic disparities in systemic sclerosis (SSc) remain unknown. African Americans are disproportionally affected by SSc and yet are underrepresented in research. The aim of this study was to comprehensively investigate the association of DNA methylation levels with SSc in dermal fibroblasts from patients of African ancestry. Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) was performed on primary dermal fibroblasts from 15 SSc patients and 15 controls of African ancestry, and over 3.8 million CpG sites were tested for differential methylation patterns between cases and controls. The dermal fibroblasts from African American patients exhibited widespread reduced DNA methylation. Differentially methylated CpG sites were most enriched in introns and in

SUBMITTER: Baker Frost D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7909410 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature