Method development for quantitative methylation analysis by direct bisulfite sequencing, raw data processing and analysis of the Human Epigenome Project

Epigenetic deals with flexible biochemical information layers that lie on top of the relatively stable DNA sequence and are involved in control of the structure and functionality of the DNA. One of the most easily analyzed epigenetic layers is DNA methylation. The first part of this work describes the development and assessment of new algorithms enabling methylation quantification by interpretation of sequencing electropherogram data from direct bisulfite sequencing. It is shown that the use of the algorithms on data from PCR products is a suitable replacement for subcloning and sequencing of about 10 subclones - a prerequisite for efficient high throughput DNA methylation studies by direct sequencing, such as carried out in the Human Epigenome Project (HEP). The second part demonstrates the possibility to compensate for artifacts and signal echos in raw data from direct bisulfite sequencing using a deconvolution algorithm. In the third part of this thesis the data of the HEP is analyzed. The HEP is the first large-scale project providing high resolution methylation data in 12 healthy human tissue types on 3 chromosomes analyzed, with a view to answering biological questions. It is shown that differential methylation between healthy tissues is a common phenomenon - especially in conserved non coding sequences, how CpG density and proximity to functional genomic sites influence the methylation profile and in how far CpGs tend to be organized in co-methylated blocks.Epigenetik beschäftigt sich mit dynamischen biochemischen Informationsebenen, welche die im Vergleich dazu relativ stabile DNS beeinflussen und eine Rolle bei der Kontrolle der Struktur und Funktion der DNS spielt. DNS Methylierung ist eine der am besten untersuchbaren epigenetischen Ebenen. Diese Arbeit beschreibt im ersten Teil die Entwicklung eines neuen Algorithmus, der quantitative Methylierungsmessung auf der Grundlage von Elektropherogramm Daten aus der direkten Sequenzierung von PCR Produkten von Bisulfit behandelter DNS ermöglicht. Es wird gezeigt, daß die Verwendung des Algorithmus mit Daten von PCR Produkten eine brauchbare Alternative zu Subklonierung und Sequenzierung von ca. zehn Subklonen ist und damit effiziente DNS Methylierungsstudien durch Hochdurchsatzsequenzierung ermöglicht. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit beschreibt die Möglichkeit mit Hilfe eines Dekonvolutions Algorithmus Artefakte und Signal Echos in Sequenzierungsrohdaten zu kompensieren. Der dritte Teil behandelt die Analyse und die biologische Erkenntnisse aus den Daten des HEP, dem ersten hochauflösenden Methylierungsdatensatz für drei Chromosomen in zwölf Geweben. Es wird gezeigt, daß differentielle Methylierung zwischen gesunden Geweben weit verbreitet ist, welchen Einfluß CpG Dichte und Nachbarschaft zu funktionalen genomischen Bereichen auf das DNS Methylierungsprofil haben und in wieweit benachbarte CpGs dazu tendieren, sich in comethylierten Einheiten zu organisieren

Comprehensive profiling of zebrafish hepatic proximal promoter CpG island methylation and its modification during chemical carcinogenesis

Background\ud DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism associated with regulation of gene expression and it is modulated during chemical carcinogenesis. The zebrafish is increasingly employed as a human disease model; however there is a lack of information on DNA methylation in zebrafish and during fish tumorigenesis. \ud \ud Results\ud A novel CpG island tiling array containing 44,000 probes, in combination with immunoprecipitation of methylated DNA, was used to achieve the first comprehensive methylation profiling of normal adult zebrafish liver. DNA methylation alterations were detected in zebrafish liver tumors induced by the environmental carcinogen 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene. Genes significantly hypomethylated in tumors were associated particularly with proliferation, glycolysis, transcription, cell cycle, apoptosis, growth and metastasis. Hypermethylated genes included those associated with anti-angiogenesis and cellular adhesion. Of 49 genes that were altered in expression within tumors, and which also had appropriate CpG islands and were co-represented on the tiling array, approximately 45% showed significant changes in both gene expression and methylation. \ud \ud Conclusion\ud The functional pathways containing differentially methylated genes in zebrafish hepatocellular carcinoma have also been reported to be aberrantly methylated during tumorigenesis in humans. These findings increase the confidence in the use of zebrafish as a model for human cancer in addition to providing the first comprehensive mapping of DNA methylation in the normal adult zebrafish liver. \ud \u

Determination of Methylated CpG Sites in the Promoter Region of Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) and their Involvement in the Etiology of Tobacco Smoking

We previously reported that catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is significantly associated with nicotine dependence (ND) in humans. In this study, we examined whether there exists any difference in the extent of methylation of CpG dinucleotides in the promoter region of COMT in smokers and non-smokers by analyzing the methylation status of cytosines at 33 CpG sites through direct sequencing of bisulfite-treated DNA (N = 50 per group). The cytosine was methylated at 13 of 33 CpG sites, and two of these sites showed significant differences between smokers and matched non-smoker controls. Specifically, in the −193 CpG site, the degree of methylation was 19.1% in smokers and 13.2% in non-smokers (P < 0.01). This finding was confirmed by methylation-specific PCR using an additional 100 smoker and 100 non-smoker control samples, which showed the degree of methylation to be 22.2% in smokers and 18.3% in non-smokers (P < 0.01). For the −39 CpG site, the degree of methylation was 9.2% in smokers, whereas no methylation was found in non-smoker controls. Together, our findings provide the first molecular explanation at the epigenetic level for the association of ND with methylation of the COMT promoter, implying that methylation plays a role in smoking dependence

Single nucleotide extension technology for quantitative site-specific evaluation of (met)C/C in GC-rich regions

The development and use of high throughput technologies for detailed mapping of methylated cytosines ((met)C) is becoming of increasing importance for the expanding field of epigenetics. The single nucleotide primer extension reaction used for genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms has been recently adapted to interrogate the bisulfite modification induced ‘quantitative’ C/T polymorphism that corresponds to (met)C/C in the native DNA. In this study, we explored the opportunity to investigate C/T (and G/A) ratios using the Applied Biosystems (ABI) SNaPshot technology. The main effort of this study was dedicated to addressing the complexities in the analysis of DNA methylation in GC-rich regions where interrogation of the target cytosine can be confounded by variable degrees of methylation in other cytosines (resulting in variable C/T or G/A ratios after treatment with bisulfite) in the annealing site of the interrogating primer. In our studies, the mismatches of the SNaPshot primer with the target DNA sequence resulted in a biasing effect of up to 70% while these effects decreased as the location of the polymorphic site moved upstream of the target cytosine. We demonstrated that the biasing effect can be corrected with the SNaPshot primers containing degenerative C/T and G/A nucleotides. A series of experiments using various permutations of quantitative C/T and G/A polymorphisms at various positions of the target DNA sequence demonstrated that SNaPshot is able to accurately report cytosine methylation levels with <5% average SD from the true values. Given the relative simplicity of the method and the possibility to multiplex C/T and G/A interrogations, the SNaPshot approach may become a useful tool for large-scale mapping of (met)C

Aberrant septin 9 DNA methylation in colorectal cancer is restricted to a single CpG island.

BACKGROUND: The septin 9 gene (SEPT9) codes for a GTP-binding protein associated with filamentous structures and cytoskeleton formation. SEPT9 plays a role in multiple cancers as either an oncogene or a tumor suppressor gene. Regulation of SEPT9 expression is complex and not well understood; however, hypermethylation of the gene was recently introduced as a biomarker for early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) and has been linked to cancer of the breast and of the head and neck. Because the DNA methylation landscape of different regions of SEPT9 is poorly understood in cancer, we analyzed the methylation patterns of this gene in distinct cell populations from normal and diseased colon mucosa. METHODS: Laser capture microdissection was performed to obtain homogeneous populations of epithelial and stromal cells from normal, adenomatous, and tumorous colon mucosa. Microdissected samples were analyzed using direct bisulfite sequencing to determine the DNA methylation status of eight regions within and near the SEPT9 gene. Septin-9 protein expression was assessed using immunohistochemistry (IHC). RESULTS: Regions analyzed in SEPT9 were unmethylated in normal tissue except for a methylation boundary detected downstream of the largest CpG island. In adenoma and tumor tissues, epithelial cells displayed markedly increased DNA methylation levels (>80%, p <0.0001) in only one of the CpG islands investigated. SEPT9 methylation in stromal cells increased in adenomatous and tumor tissues (<=50%, p <0.0001); however, methylation did not increase in stromal cells of normal tissue close to the tumor. IHC data indicated a significant decrease (p <0.01) in Septin-9 protein levels in epithelial cells derived from adenoma and tumor tissues; Septin-9 protein levels in stromal cells were low in all tissues. CONCLUSIONS: Hypermethylation of SEPT9 in adenoma and CRC specimens is confined to one of several CpG islands of this gene. Tumor-associated aberrant methylation originates in epithelial cells; stromal cells appear to acquire hypermethylation subsequent to epithelial cells, possibly through field effects. The region in SEPT9 with disease-related hypermethylation also contains the CpGs targeted by a novel blood-based screening test (Epi proColon(R)), providing further support for the clinical relevance of this biomarker

BRAF mutation-specific promoter methylation of FOX genes in colorectal cancer

Background: Cancer-specific hypermethylation of (promoter) CpG islands is common during the tumorigenesis of colon cancer. Although associations between certain genetic aberrations, such as BRAF mutation and microsatellite instability, and the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP), have been found, the mechanisms by which these associations are established are still unclear. We studied genome-wide DNA methylation differences between

Methylation Markers for the Identification of Body Fluids and Tissues from Forensic Trace Evidence

The identification of body fluids is an essential tool for clarifying the course of events at a criminal site. The analytical problem is the fact that the biological material has been very often exposed to detrimental exogenous influences. Thereby, the molecular substrates used for the identification of the traces may become degraded. So far, most protocols utilize cell specific proteins or RNAs. Instead of measuring these more sensitive compounds this paper describes the application of the differential DNA-methylation. As a result of two genome wide screenings with the Illumina HumanMethylation BeadChips 27 and 450k we identified 150 candidate loci revealing differential methylation with regard to the body fluids venous blood, menstrual blood, vaginal fluid, saliva and sperm. Among them we selected 9 loci as the most promising markers. For the final determination of the methylation degree we applied the SNuPE-method. Because the degree of methylation might be modified by various endogenous and exogenous factors, we tested each marker with approximately 100 samples of each target fluid in a validation study. The stability of the detection procedure is proved in various simulated forensic surroundings according to standardized conditions. We studied the potential influence of 12 relatively common tumors on the methylation of the 9 markers. For this purpose the target fluids of 34 patients have been analysed. Only the cervix carcinoma might have an remarkable effect because impairing the signal of both vaginal markers. Using the Illumina MiSeq device we tested the potential influence of cis acting sequence variants on the methylation degree of the 9 markers in the specific body fluid DNA of 50 individuals. For 4 marker loci we observed such an influence either by sole SNPs or haplotypes. The identification of each target fluid is possible in arbitrary mixtures with the remaining four body fluids. The sensitivity of the individual body fluid tests is in the same range as for the forensic STR-analysis. It is the first forensic body fluid protocol which considers the exogenic and endogenic parameters potentially interfering with the true results

Novel method for high throughput DNA methylation marker evaluation using PNA-probe library hybridization and MALDI-TOF detection

The methylation of CpG dinucleotides has become a topic of great interest in cancer research, and the methylation of promoter regions of several tumor suppressor genes has been identified as a marker of tumorigenesis. Evaluation of DNA methylation markers in tumor tissue requires hundreds of samples, which must be analyzed quantitatively due to the heterogeneous composition of biological material. Therefore novel, fast and inexpensive methods for high throughput analysis are needed. Here we introduce a new assay based on peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-library hybridization and subsequent MALDI-TOF analysis. This method is multiplexable, allows the use of standard 384 well automated pipetting, and is more specific and flexible than established methods, such as microarrays and MS-SNuPE. The approach was used to evaluate three candidate colon cancer methylation markers previously identified in a microarray study. The methylation of the genes Ade-nomatous polyposis coli (APC), glycogen synthase kinase-β-3 (GSK3β) and eyes absent 4 (EYA4) was analyzed in 12 colon cancer and 12 normal tissues. APC and EYA4 were confirmed as being differentially methylated in colon cancer patients whereas GSK3β did not show differential methylation

Generation of a genomic tiling array of the human Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) and its application for DNA methylation analysis

Background: The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is essential for human immunity and is highly associated with common diseases, including cancer. While the genetics of the MHC has been studied intensively for many decades, very little is known about the epigenetics of this most polymorphic and disease-associated region of the genome.Methods: To facilitate comprehensive epigenetic analyses of this region, we have generated a genomic tiling array of 2 Kb resolution covering the entire 4 Mb MHC region. The array has been designed to be compatible with chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP), array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) and expression profiling, including of non-coding RNAs. The array comprises 7832 features, consisting of two replicates of both forward and reverse strands of MHC amplicons and appropriate controls.Results: Using MeDIP, we demonstrate the application of the MHC array for DNA methylation profiling and the identification of tissue-specific differentially methylated regions (tDMRs). Based on the analysis of two tissues and two cell types, we identified 90 tDMRs within the MHC and describe their characterisation.Conclusion: A tiling array covering the MHC region was developed and validated. Its successful application for DNA methylation profiling indicates that this array represents a useful tool for molecular analyses of the MHC in the context of medical genomics