Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 2, 2025
14:56
Sample Preparation to Bioinformatics Analysis of DNA Methylation: Association Strategy for Obesity and Related Trait Studies
Published on: May 6, 2022
4.8K
Identification and validation of DNA methylation changes in pre-eclampsia
Suzan N Almomani1, Abdulmonem A Alsaleh2, Robert J Weeks3
1Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand; Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Level 2, 3A Symonds Street, Auckland, New Zealand.
Placenta
|June 7, 2021
Summary
This study identified consistent placental DNA methylation differences in pre-eclampsia (PE) by analyzing multiple cohorts. Altered methylation in the CMIP gene was validated, suggesting its potential as a diagnostic biomarker for PE.
Area of Science:
- Epigenetics
- Reproductive Medicine
- Genomics
Background:
- Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a severe pregnancy complication with significant maternal and infant mortality.
- Previous studies show inconsistent findings regarding placental DNA methylation alterations in PE.
- Replication of findings is crucial for understanding PE's pathogenesis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and validate consistent differentially methylated positions (DMPs) in placental DNA across multiple pre-eclampsia cohorts.
- To investigate the role of specific genes in PE pathogenesis through DNA methylation analysis.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of seven publicly available 450K methylation array datasets to identify DMPs in PE.
- Application of stringent criteria (≥10% methylation difference, p-value ≤ 1 × 10-7) for DMP identification.
- Validation of selected DMPs using targeted deep bisulfite sequencing in an independent PE cohort.
Main Results:
- Initial stringent analysis identified 25 DMPs in one dataset; relaxed criteria confirmed 19 DMPs in at least four datasets.
- Targeted sequencing validated two DMPs in the CMIP gene.
- Seven additional CpG sites in CMIP showed significant differential methylation in PE.
Conclusions:
- Consistent differential DNA methylation in the CMIP gene is associated with pre-eclampsia.
- Altered CMIP methylation may play a role in PE pathogenesis.
- CMIP methylation alterations show potential as diagnostic biomarkers for pre-eclampsia.
