Cell-type specific meQTL extends melanoma GWAS annotation beyond eQTL and identifies a melanocyte gene regulatory network

To explore the roles of cell-type specific methylation QTL (meQTL) for melanoma GWAS annotation, we generated DNA methylation data from the same sample set as our previouse eQTL study including 106 primary melanocyte cultures. The Illumina Infinium 450k Human DNA methylation Beadchip v1.2 was used to obtain DNA methylation profiles across approximately 480,000 CpGs in 106 primary melanocyte cultures. To be able to identify the DNA methylation probes whose methylation levels are correlated with germline genetic variants including the ones associated with melanoma, meQTL analysis was performed in these 106 primary melanocyte cultures using the same method as we did for eQTL study. Bisulphite converted DNA from the 106 samples were hybridized to the Illumina Infinium 450k Human Methylation Beadchip v1.2