Rationale: Previous EWASs (Epigenome-Wide Association Studies) suggest that obesity may be the cause, not a consequence, of changes in DNA methylation (DNAm). However, longitudinal observations are lacking.
Objective: To identify 5'-cytosine-phosphate-guanine-3' in DNA (CpG) sites associated with body mass index (BMI) and examine the temporal relationship between dynamic changes in DNAm and BMI in a longitudinal cohort.
Methods And Results: Race-specific EWASs were performed in 995 whites and 490 blacks from the Bogalusa Heart Study. Suggestive CpG sites were further replicated in 252 whites and 228 blacks from the Georgia Stress and Heart Study. Cross-lagged panel analysis was used to examine the temporal relationship between DNAm and BMI in 439 whites and 201 blacks who were examined twice 6.2 years apart. In discovery and replication samples, 349 CpG sites (266 novel) in whites and 36 (21 novel) in blacks were identified to be robustly associated with BMI, with 8 (1 novel) CpG sites overlapping between the 2 races. Cross-lagged panel analyses showed significant unidirectional paths (P <0.05) from baseline BMI to follow-up DNAm at 18 CpG sites in whites and 7 in blacks; no CpG sites showed significant paths from DNAm at baseline to BMI at follow-up. Baseline BMI was associated with a DNAm score (calculated from DNAm levels at the associated CpG sites) at follow-up (<0.001 both in blacks and in whites).
Conclusions: The findings provide strong evidence that obesity is the cause, not a consequence, of changes in DNAm over time.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.119.315397 | DOI Listing |
Bioinform Adv
January 2025
Division of Epigenetics, DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, German Cancer Research Center, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Motivation: Since their introduction about 10 years ago, methylation clocks have provided broad insights into the biological age of different species, tissues, and in the context of several diseases or aging. However, their application to single-cell methylation data remains a major challenge, because of the inherent sparsity of such data, as many CpG sites are not covered. A methylation clock applicable on single-cell level could help to further disentangle the processes that drive the ticking of epigenetic clocks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndocrinology
January 2025
Neuroendocrinology Department, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health, J. M. Street, Parel, Mumbai 400012, India.
Estrogen through its receptors, ERα and ERβ, regulate various aspects of spermatogenesis and male fertility. Since the sperm epigenome is an important contributing factor to male fertility, we evaluated the effects of estrogen signaling activation through the ERs on sperm DNA methylome in adult rats. Whole genome-bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) in caudal sperm DNA was performed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Epigenetics
January 2025
Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Alcohol consumption is an important risk factor for multiple diseases. It is typically assessed via self-report, which is open to measurement error through recall bias. Instead, molecular data such as blood-based DNA methylation (DNAm) could be used to derive a more objective measure of alcohol consumption by incorporating information from cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites known to be linked to the trait.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMod Pathol
January 2025
Department of Pathology and Medical Biology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; Department of Pathology, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Electronic address:
Fibro-osseous tumors of the craniofacial bones are a heterogeneous group of lesions comprising cemento-osseous dysplasia (COD), cemento-ossifying fibroma (COF), juvenile trabecular ossifying fibroma (JTOF), psammomatoid ossifying fibroma (PsOF), fibrous dysplasia (FD), and low-grade osteosarcoma (LGOS) with overlapping clinicopathological features. However, their clinical behavior and treatment differ significantly, underlining the need for accurate diagnosis. Molecular diagnostic markers exist for subsets of these tumors, including GNAS mutations in FD, SATB2 fusions in PsOF, mutations involving the RAS-MAPK signaling pathway in COD, and MDM2 amplification in LGOS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMolecules
January 2025
School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
DNA methylation has been widely studied with the goal of correlating the genome profiles of various diseases with epigenetic mechanisms. Multiple approaches have been developed that employ extensive steps, such as bisulfite treatments, polymerase chain reactions (PCR), restriction digestion, sequencing, mass analysis, etc., to identify DNA methylation.
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