Epigenetic supersimilarity of monozygotic twin pairs

Timothy E Van Baak; Cristian Coarfa; Pierre-Antoine Dugue; Giovanni Fiorito; Eleonora Laritsky; Maria S Baker; Noah J Kessler; Jianrong Dong; Jack D Duryea; Matt J Silver; Ayden Saffari; Andrew M Prentice; Sophie E Moore; Akram Ghantous; Michael N Routledge; Yun Yun Gong; Zdenko Herceg; Paolo Vineis; Gianluca Severi; John L Hopper; Melissa C Southey; Graham G Giles; Roger L Milne; Robert A Waterland

Journal article

Epigenetic supersimilarity of monozygotic twin pairs

Timothy E Van Baak, Cristian Coarfa, Pierre-Antoine Dugue, Giovanni Fiorito, Eleonora Laritsky, Maria S Baker, Noah J Kessler, Jianrong Dong, Jack D Duryea, Matt J Silver, Ayden Saffari, Andrew M Prentice, Sophie E Moore, Akram Ghantous, Michael N Routledge, Yun Yun Gong, Zdenko Herceg, Paolo Vineis, Gianluca Severi, John L Hopper Show all

GENOME BIOLOGY | BMC | Published : 2018

DOI: 10.1186/s13059-017-1374-0

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Monozygotic twins have long been studied to estimate heritability and explore epigenetic influences on phenotypic variation. The phenotypic and epigenetic similarities of monozygotic twins have been assumed to be largely due to their genetic identity. RESULTS: Here, by analyzing data from a genome-scale study of DNA methylation in monozygotic and dizygotic twins, we identified genomic regions at which the epigenetic similarity of monozygotic twins is substantially greater than can be explained by their genetic identity. This "epigenetic supersimilarity" apparently results from locus-specific establishment of epigenotype prior to embryo cleavage during twinning. Epigenetically sup..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Graham Giles Author Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

John Hopper Author Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

Melissa Southey Author Clinical Pathology

Gianluca Severi Author Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

Roger Milne Author Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

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Awarded by Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)

Awarded by CPRIT

Awarded by Department for International Development (DFID) under the MRC/DFID Concordat agreement (MRC Programme)

Awarded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenge "Achieving Healthy Growth" scheme

Awarded by Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)

Awarded by Australian NHMRC grants

Awarded by NHMRC

Awarded by USDA

Awarded by UK-MRC

Awarded by Medical Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

TEV was supported by training grant award RP 140113 from the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). CC was partially supported by CPRIT grant RP170005. The ENID Trial was jointly funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Department for International Development (DFID) under the MRC/DFID Concordat agreement (MRC Programme MC-A760-5QX00). MNR, YYG, SEM, and ZH were supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenge "Achieving Healthy Growth" scheme (grant OPP1 066947). ZH and AG are supported by grants from the Institut National du Cancer (INCa, France) and Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (ARC, France). Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, Cohort recruitment was funded by VicHealth and Cancer Council Victoria. This work was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) [grants 1088405and 1074383]. MCCS cohort recruitment was funded by VicHealth and Cancer Council Victoria. The MCCS was further supported by Australian NHMRC grants 209057 and 396414 and by infrastructure provided by Cancer Council Victoria. The nested case - control methylation studies were supported by the NHMRC [grants 1011618, 1026892, 1027505,1050198, 1043616]. MCS is a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow. JLH is a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow. RAW was supported by grants from the USDA (CRIS 3092-5-001-059), CPRIT (RP170295), and UK-MRC (MR/M01424X/1). None of the funding bodies played a role in study design or data collection, analysis, or interpretation.