DNA methylation in progenitor cells: MeDIP study

We surveyed DNA methylation profiles of all human RefSeq promoters in relation to gene expression and differentiation in adipose tissue, bone marrow and muscle mesenchymal progenitors, as well as in bone marrow-derived hematopoietic progenitors. We unravel strongly overlapping DNA methylation profiles between adipose stem cells (ASCs), bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) and muscle progenitor cells (MPCs), while hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) are more epigenetically distant from MSCs seen as a whole. Differentiation resolves a fraction of methylation patterns common to MSCs, generating epigenetic divergence. DNA was isolated from MSCs isolated from various tissues and from differentiated cells, immunoprecipitated using antibodies to 5-methylcytosine, and co-hybridized onto Nimblegen promoter arrays together with input DNA.