Measuring the methylome in clinical samples: improved processing of the Infinium Human Methylation 450 BeadChip Array

The Infinium Human Methylation450 BeadChip ArrayTM (Infinium 450K) is an important tool for studying epigenetic patterns associated with disease. This array offers a high-throughput, low cost alternative to more comprehensive sequencing-based methodologies. Here we compare data generated by interrogation of the same seven clinical samples by Infinium 450K and reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS). This is the largest data set comparing Infinium 450K array to the comprehensive RRBS methodology reported so far. We show good agreement between the two methodologies. A read depth of four or more reads in the RRBS data was sufficient to achieve good agreement with Infinium 450K. However, we observe that intermediate methylation values (20–80%) are more variable between technologies than values at the extremes of the bimodal methylation distribution. We describe careful processing of Infinium 450K data to correct for known limitations and batch effects. Using methodologies proposed by others and newly implemented and combined in this report, agreement of Infinium 450K data with independent techniques can be vastly improved.<br/

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field