Genome wide blood DNA methylation measured at birth and age 7 on the EPIC array. Genome wide blood DNA methylation measured at birth and age 7 on the EPIC array

We measured the DNA methylation levels at ~800,000 CpG sites from ethnically admixed children in CBMCs at birth and PBMCs age 7 to study the longitudinal dynamics of methylation marks. We found that self-reported race-dependent methylation levels were conserved over time, which helped to suggest that blood methylation levels are robust to environmental exposures during the first 7 years of life. Overall design: DNA methylation measured on the EPIC array in CBMCs at birth and PBMCs at age 7 from 196 children.

本研究纳入196名种族混血儿童，对其出生时脐带血单个核细胞（cord blood mononuclear cells, CBMC）与7岁时外周血单个核细胞（peripheral blood mononuclear cells, PBMC）内约80万个CpG位点（CpG site）的DNA甲基化水平进行检测，以探究甲基化标记的纵向动态变化规律。研究发现，基于自我报告种族的甲基化水平随时间保持稳定，这提示在生命最初7年内，血液甲基化水平对环境暴露具有鲁棒性。实验整体设计：采用EPIC阵列（EPIC array）对上述196名儿童出生时的CBMC及7岁时的PBMC开展DNA甲基化检测。