Abstract
Twin studies have provided the basis for genetic and epidemiological studies in human complex traits. As epigenetic factors can contribute to phenotypic outcomes, we conducted a DNA methylation analysis in white blood cells (WBC), buccal epithelial cells and gut biopsies of 114 monozygotic (MZ) twins as well as WBC and buccal epithelial cells of 80 dizygotic (DZ) twins using 12K CpG island microarrays. Here we provide the first annotation of epigenetic metastability of ∼6,000 unique genomic regions in MZ twins. An intraclass correlation (ICC)-based comparison of matched MZ and DZ twins showed significantly higher epigenetic difference in buccal cells of DZ co-twins (P = 1.2 × 10-294). Although such higher epigenetic discordance in DZ twins can result from DNA sequence differences, our in silico SNP analyses and animal studies favor the hypothesis that it is due to epigenomic differences in the zygotes, suggesting that molecular mechanisms of heritability may not be limited to DNA sequence differences.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 240-245 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Nature Genetics |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 2009 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This paper is dedicated to the memory of Professor V.M. Gindilis, an excellent scientist, dedicated teacher and creative twin researcher. We should like to thank S. Ziegler for technical assistance, A. Henders and M. Campbell for selection and preparation of twin DNA samples, and J. Chow for work generating the karyograms. This project was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH074127-01), the Canadian Institutes for Health and Research (CIHR) and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD). A.P. is Senior Fellow of the Ontario Mental Health Foundation. Z.A.K. was supported by a CIHR graduate fellowship.