N6-methyladenosine (m6A) profiling in 60 YRI LCLs

N6-methyladenosine (m6A), the most abundant messenger RNA (mRNA) modification, has emerged as a critical post-transcriptional mechanism that regulates various aspect of mRNA metabolism including pre-mRNA processing, mRNA export, mRNA stability and translation efficiency. However the genetics basis of m6A is largely unexplored. In this work, we mapped m6A-QTLs in 60 LCLs and used the resulting tens of thousands of QTLs to provide insights to m6A biology and its contribution to human complex trait. We sequenced the m6A (using MeRIP-seq) in LCLs derived from 60 YRI individuals that have genotype as well as many other molecular traits data analyzed before. Briefly, LCLs were purchased from the Coriell Institute and cultured following the standard instruction. Cells were harvest at 0.7 – 1 million/ml density and total RNA were extracted using Trizol. Poly-T beads were used to further purify the mRNA followed by m6A immunoprecipitation and sequencing. Each LCL was split into two technical replicates upon receipt of the cells. The two replicates were processed independently thereafter and each sequenced at 30 million reads. The sequencing data of technical replicates were pooled at reads alignment.