Genome-wide analysis of differential transcriptional and epigenetic variability across human immune cell types

Abstract Background A healthy immune system requires immune cells that adapt rapidly to environmental challenges. This phenotypic plasticity can be mediated by transcriptional and epigenetic variability. Results We apply a novel analytical approach to measure and compare transcriptional and epigenetic variability genome-wide across CD14+CD16− monocytes, CD66b+CD16+ neutrophils, and CD4+CD45RA+ naïve T cells from the same 125 healthy individuals. We discover substantially increased variability in neutrophils compared to monocytes and T cells. In neutrophils, genes with hypervariable expression are found to be implicated in key immune pathways and are associated with cellular properties and environmental exposure. We also observe increased sex-specific gene expression differences in neutrophils. Neutrophil-specific DNA methylation hypervariable sites are enriched at dynamic chromatin regions and active enhancers. Conclusions Our data highlight the importance of transcriptional and epigenetic variability for the key role of neutrophils as the first responders to inflammatory stimuli. We provide a resource to enable further functional studies into the plasticity of immune cells, which can be accessed from: http://blueprint-dev.bioinfo.cnio.es/WP10/hypervariability

Identification and expression of the 20 kd structural protein gene of colitis bacteriophage

The 2.3 kb BamHI fragment from the colitis bacteriophage DNA was transcribed and translated into a 20 kd structural protein P6, in a coupled transcription-translation system derived from Escherichia coli. This protein was expressed in vivo by the 2.3 kb DNA cloned in pBR322. The gene with the regulatory elements for this protein was located on the 680 bp AvaII fragment of the insert DNA. It hybridized with two RNAs of sizes 520 and 1630 nucleotides indicating that both are messengers for the 20 kd protein. Dot-blot hybridization showed that the transcripts for P6 reached a maximum level at 12 min after phage infection

Global methylation profiles in DNA from different blood cell types

DNA methylation measured in white blood cell DNA is increasingly being used in studies of cancer susceptibility. However, little is known about the correlation between different assays to measure global methylation and whether the source of DNA matters when examining methylation profiles in different blood cell types. Using information from 620 women, 217 and 403 women with DNA available from granulocytes (Gran) and total white blood cells (WBC), respectively, and 48 women with DNA available from four different sources [WBC, Gran, mononuclear (MN) and lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL)], we compared DNA methylation for three repetitive elements (LINE1, Sat2, Alu) by MethyLight, luminometric methylation assay (LUMA) and [3H]-methyl acceptance assay. For four of the five assays, DNA methylation levels measured in Gran were not correlated with methylation in LCL, MN or WBC; the exception was Sat2. DNA methylation in LCL was correlated with methylation in MN and WBC for the [3H]-methyl acceptance, LINE1 and Alu assays. Methylation in MN was correlated with methylation in WBC for the [3H]-methyl acceptance and LUMA assays. When we compared the five assays to each other by source of DNA, we observed statistically significant correlations ranging from 0.3–0.7 for each cell type with one exception (Sat2 and Alu in MN). Among the 620 women stratified by DNA source, correlations among assays were highest for the three repetitive elements (range 0.39–0.64). Results from the LUMA assay were modestly correlated with LINE1 (0.18–0.20). These results suggest that both assay and source of DNA are critical components in the interpretation of global DNA methylation patterns from WBC