Genome-wide DNA methylation dynamics in carbon tetrachloride-induced mice liver fibrosis

Liver fibrosis was found to be existed in all kinds of chronic liver diseases. Many studies suggested that DNA methylation was related with the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. The aim of this study was to quantitatively detect DNA methylation changes in the whole genome in fibrotic liver tissues. Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) was used to induce male mice liver fibrosis by intraperitoneal injection for 4 weeks. A genome-wide methylome analysis was performed using 850K BeadChips assays. The methylation status of 27 CpG dinucleotides located in 3 genes was detected by pyrosequencing to confirm chips data accuracy, and their mRNA expressions were examined by RT-qPCR methods. A total of 130,068 differentially methylated sites (DMS, 58,474 hypermethylated and 71,594 hypomethylated) between fibrotic liver tissues and control mice liver tissues were identified by the 850k BeadChips array. They distribute in each chromosome. Recognition of apoptotic cell, Notch and p38MAPK et al activities were significantly enriched in the Gene Ontology (GO) analyses. Cholesterol metabolism, bile secretion and more biosynthesis and metabolism pathway were enriched in KEGG pathway analyses. Many classical pathways of fibrogenesis and liver activity, as well as more biosynthetic and metabolic pathways, were found to be related to methylation changes. Our result facilitates future research for clinical application. Genome-wide DNA methylation profiles of the liver tissues from 9 liver fiber mice and 9 normal mice.