Intra-MZ pair discordance and longitudinal variation of whole-genome scale DNA methylation in adults. Homo sapiens

In this study, we used Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 Beadchips to compare DNA methylation profiles in blood from 10 pairs of MZ twins and 8 individuals recruited at 0, 3, 6, and 9 months. Overall design: MZ Group (Group A) contained 10 pairs of MZ twins ranging from 23 to 74 years old, including 8 female and 12 male subjects.Longitudinal study group (Group B) included a pair of MZ (male) twins and 6 unrelated individuals (3 male, 3 female), aged from 24 to 39. Except subject H, all participants in Longitudinal study group (Group B) were recalled every 3 months for 9 months (0, 3, 6, and 9 m). Subject H was studied only at 0, 6, and 9 months. Bisulphite converted DNA from the 60 samples were hybridised to the Illumina Infinium 450k Human Methylation Beadchip