Cortical hypermethylation across an extended region spanning the HOXA gene cluster on chromosome 7 is robustly associated with Alzheimer's disease neuropathology

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is hypothesized to involve epigenetic dysfunction. We undertook an epigenome-wide association study across three independent brain tissue cohorts (total n = 999) to identify differential DNA methylation associated with neuropathology in the superior temporal gyrus and prefrontal cortex. We present robust evidence for elevated DNA methylation associated with AD neuropathology across an extended region spanning the HOXA gene cluster on chromosome 7. Prefrontal cortex and superior temporal gyrus tissue from 147 individuals with varying levels of AD pathology. DNA modifications for these samples were quantified using the Illumina Infinium Human 450K Methylation Array.