Data from: Co-occurring expression and methylation QTLs allow detection of common causal variants and shared biological mechanisms

Inherited genetic variation affects local gene expression and DNA
methylation in humans. Most expression quantitative trait loci (cis-eQTLs)
occur at the same genomic location as methylation QTLs (cis-meQTLs),
suggesting a common causal variant and shared mechanism. Using DNA and RNA
from peripheral blood of Bangladeshi individuals, here we use
co-localization methods to identify eQTL-meQTL pairs likely to share a
causal variant. We use partial correlation and mediation analyses to
identify >400 of these pairs showing evidence of a causal
relationship between expression and methylation (i.e., shared mechanism)
with many additional pairs we are underpowered to detect. These
co-localized pairs are enriched for SNPs showing opposite associations
with expression and methylation, although a many SNPs affect multiple CpGs
in opposite directions. This work demonstrates the pervasiveness of
co-regulated expression and methylation in the human genome. Applying this
approach to other types of molecular QTLs can enhance our understanding of
regulatory mechanisms.