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Updated: Oct 10, 2025

Enhanced Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing for Assessment of DNA Methylation at Base Pair Resolution
Published on: February 24, 2015
Longitudinal DNA methylation dynamics as a practical indicator in clinical epigenetics.
Shohei Komaki1, Hideki Ohmomo1, Tsuyoshi Hachiya1
1Division of Biomedical Information Analysis, Iwate Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Disaster Reconstruction Center, Iwate Medical University, 1-1-1, Idaidori, Yahaba, Iwate, 028-3694, Japan.
DNA methylation is generally stable over three months, but dynamic sites link to immune traits. Stable sites are linked to metabolism, offering insights for clinical epigenetics.
Area of Science:
- Epigenetics
- Genomics
- Clinical Medicine
Background:
- DNA methylation is a key epigenetic mechanism.
- Its longitudinal dynamics under normal conditions are poorly understood.
- This study investigates short-term DNA methylation changes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize longitudinal DNA methylation dynamics.
- To differentiate between stable and dynamic CpGs (cytosine methylation).
- To explore the functional implications of methylation stability.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of high-frequency longitudinal DNA methylation data.
- Utilized data from two Japanese males with 24 time-points over three months.
- Employed the Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip probe set.
Main Results:
- Most CpGs remained stable over the three-month period.
- Dynamic CpGs were associated with immune and inflammatory traits.
- Stable CpGs were enriched in metabolism-related genes and less likely to be EWAS markers.
Conclusions:
- CpG methylation stability varies and is functionally relevant.
- Stable and dynamic CpGs can serve as indicators in clinical epigenetics.
- Understanding these dynamics aids in outlining epigenetic mechanisms.
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