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PMID: 21383968 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

A genome-wide study of DNA methylation patterns and gene expression levels in multiple human and chimpanzee tissues.

PLoS genetics ·Vol. 7 ·No. 2 ·2011-02-00 ·Pages e1001316

Pai AA, Bell JT, Marioni JC, Pritchard JK, Gilad Y

Abstract

The modification of DNA by methylation is an important epigenetic mechanism that affects the spatial and temporal regulation of gene expression. Methylation patterns have been described in many contexts within and across a range of species. However, the extent to which changes in methylation might underlie inter-species differences in gene regulation, in particular between humans and other primates, has not yet been studied. To this end, we studied DNA methylation patterns in livers, hearts, and kidneys from multiple humans and chimpanzees, using tissue samples for which genome-wide gene expression data were also available. Using the multi-species gene expression and methylation data for 7,723 genes, we were able to study the role of promoter DNA methylation in the evolution of gene regulation across tissues and species. We found that inter-tissue methylation patterns are often conserved between humans and chimpanzees. However, we also found a large number of gene expression differences between species that might be explained, at least in part, by corresponding differences in methylation levels. In particular, we estimate that, in the tissues we studied, inter-species differences in promoter methylation might underlie as much as 12%-18% of differences in gene expression levels between humans and chimpanzees.

MeSH Terms
Animals DNA Methylation Gene Expression Genome-Wide Association Study Humans Pan troglodytes/genetics,metabolism
Authors & Affiliations
5 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Pai Athma A
Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. athma@uchicago.edu
Bell Jordana T
Marioni John C
Pritchard Jonathan K
Gilad Yoav
Conflict of Interest

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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Article Info
Journal
PLoS genetics
Abbr.
PLoS Genet
ISSN
1553-7404
DOI
10.1371/journal.pgen.1001316
Email
athma@uchicago.edu
Published
2011-02-00
Epub
2011-00-24
Pages
e1001316
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
101239074
PMCID
PMC3044686
Subset
IM
Grants
Howard Hughes Medical Institute · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · R01 MH084703 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · GM077959 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · GM084996 · United States
NIMH NIH HHS · MH084703 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM077959 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM084996 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1001316 PMC Full Text View journal details
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