Persistent organic pollutants alter DNA methylation during human adipocyte differentiation

Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling was performed in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) differentiated into adipocytes (day 10) while being continuously exposed to either one of three different persistent organic pollutants (POPs), namely TCDD, PFOS, and TBT. The Illumina Infinium 450K Human DNA methylation Beadchip v1.2 was used to measure DNA methylation of unexposed differentiated adipocytes and compared to POP-exposed differentiated adipocytes. Our aims were to 1) measure genome-wide DNA methylation changes upon POP exposure during adipocyte differentiation in primary hMSCs and 2) investigate the relationship between DNA methylation and gene expression regulation after POP-exposure in a panel of 84 adipocyte-related genes. Bisulphite converted DNA from four independent experiments was hybridised to the Illumina Infinium 450K Human Methylation Beadchip. The comparison was made between unexposed adipocytes and POP-exposed adipocytes.