Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Enhanced Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing for Assessment of DNA Methylation at Base Pair Resolution
Published on: February 24, 2015
Genetic variants of methionine metabolism and DNA methylation
Stefan Bleich1, Alexander Semmler, Helge Frieling
1Molecular Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry & Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Aim:
Altered DNA methylation is associated with important and common pathologies such as cancer. The origin of altered DNA methylation is unknown. The methyl groups for DNA methylation are provided by methionine metabolism. This metabolism is characterized by a high interindividual variability, which is in part explained by genetic variants.
Methods:
In a cohort of 313 individuals derived from a family-based study with index cases of cerebrovascular disease, we analyzed whether global methylation of leukocyte DNA was associated with age, gender, homocysteine plasma levels or functionally relevant genetic variants.
Results:
We observed an association of the G-allele of the methionine synthase variant c.2756A>G (D919G) with global methylation (% methylation ± 1 SD, AA: 41.3 ± 14.9; AG: 36.4 ± 18.2; GG: 30.8 ± 16.9; F = 4.799; p = 0.009). The methionine synthase variant c.2756A>G is associated with various types of cancer.
Conclusion:
Our data suggest that an impact on DNA methylation may contribute to the clinical relevance of the methionine synthase variant.
Related Concept Videos
Epigenetic Regulation
X-chromosome...
Epigenetic Regulation
Pharmacogenetic Phenotypes: Alterations in Pharmacokinetics, Drug Targets and Biologic Milieu
Principles of Pharmacogenetics: Types of Genetic Variants
Pharmacogenetics of Drug Targets: β₂-Adrenergic Receptors, Apo E, Thymidylate Synthase
Genomic Imprinting and Inheritance
The expression of some genes depends on which parent passed the gene to the offspring, through a phenomenon known as...

