학술논문

Whole-genome fingerprint of the DNA methylome during human B cell differentiation
Document Type
article
Source
Nature Genetics. 47(7)
Subject
Biological Sciences
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Genetics
Human Genome
B-Lymphocytes
Base Sequence
Cell Differentiation
Cells
Cultured
CpG Islands
DNA Methylation
Epigenesis
Genetic
Gene Expression Regulation
Leukemic
Genome
Human
Humans
Leukemia
B-Cell
Sequence Analysis
DNA
Medical and Health Sciences
Developmental Biology
Agricultural biotechnology
Bioinformatics and computational biology
Language
Abstract
We analyzed the DNA methylome of ten subpopulations spanning the entire B cell differentiation program by whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and high-density microarrays. We observed that non-CpG methylation disappeared upon B cell commitment, whereas CpG methylation changed extensively during B cell maturation, showing an accumulative pattern and affecting around 30% of all measured CpG sites. Early differentiation stages mainly displayed enhancer demethylation, which was associated with upregulation of key B cell transcription factors and affected multiple genes involved in B cell biology. Late differentiation stages, in contrast, showed extensive demethylation of heterochromatin and methylation gain at Polycomb-repressed areas, and genes with apparent functional impact in B cells were not affected. This signature, which has previously been linked to aging and cancer, was particularly widespread in mature cells with an extended lifespan. Comparing B cell neoplasms with their normal counterparts, we determined that they frequently acquire methylation changes in regions already undergoing dynamic methylation during normal B cell differentiation.