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Emerging patterns of epigenomic variation - PubMed

Review

Emerging patterns of epigenomic variation

Aleksandar Milosavljevic. Trends Genet. 2011 Jun.

Abstract

Fuelled by new sequencing technologies, epigenome mapping projects are revealing epigenomic variation at all levels of biological complexity, from species to cells. Comparisons of methylation profiles among species reveal evolutionary conservation of gene body methylation patterns, pointing to the fundamental role of epigenomes in gene regulation. At the human population level, epigenomic changes provide footprints of the effects of genomic variants within the vast nonprotein-coding fraction of the genome, and comparisons of the epigenomes of parents and their offspring point to quantitative epigenomic parent-of-origin effects confounding classical Mendelian genetics. At the organismal level, comparisons of epigenomes from diverse cell types provide insights into cellular differentiation. Finally, comparisons of epigenomes from monozygotic twins help dissect genetic and environmental influences on human phenotypes and longitudinal comparisons reveal aging-associated epigenomic drift. The development of new bioinformatic frameworks for comparative epigenome analysis is putting epigenome maps within the reach of researchers across a wide spectrum of biological disciplines.

Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1

A schematic illustration of the space of epigenomic variation. The displayed DNA methylation and histone marks (from [53]) were remapped on the hg19 reference genome assembly and are available for browsing and download from the Human Epigenome Atlas Release 2 site (accessible at

http://www.epigenomeatlas.org

and other sites). Key developmental regulators HOXA1- HOXA13 occur in left-to right order in the HOXA cluster. The cluster is in a “poised” state as indicated by the combination of active (H3K4me3) and inactive (H3K27me3) marks. Increase in active and decrease in inactive marks over HOXA1- HOXA9 genes occurs in fibroblasts. Parallel changes in methylation can also be observed.

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