Journal article
Hypomethylation of the IL17RC Promoter Associates with Age-Related Macular Degeneration
L Wei, B Liu, J Tuo, D Shen, P Chen, Z Li, X Liu, J Ni, P Dagur, HN Sen, S Jawad, D Ling, S Park, S Chakrabarty, C Meyerle, E Agron, FL Ferris, EY Chew, JP McCoy, E Blum Show all
Cell Reports | CELL PRESS | Published : 2012
Abstract
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly population worldwide. Although recent studies have demonstrated strong genetic associations between AMD and SNPs in a number of genes, other modes of regulation are also likely to play a role in the etiology of this disease. We identified a significantly decreased level of methylation on the IL17RC promoter in AMD patients. Furthermore, we showed that hypomethylation of the IL17RC promoter in AMD patients led to an elevated expression of its protein and messenger RNA in peripheral blood as well as in the affected retina and choroid, suggesting that the DNA methylation pattern and expression o..
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Awarded by National Eye Institute
Funding Acknowledgements
The authors thank the ATR for access to this national resource, the twins who volunteered for the study, and Andrea Richardson for DNA extraction and genotyping of twin samples. We also thank Dr. Neal Young for critically reading the manuscript. This study was supported by grants from the intramural research program of the NEI (to R.B.N., C.-C.C., F.L.F., and E.Y.C.), the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (to L.W. and R.B.N.), the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (to J.P.M.), the Foundation Fighting Blindness (to P.J.F.), the Macular Degeneration Center Research Fund of the CEI (to M.L.K. and P.J.F.), Research to Prevent Blindness (unrestricted grant to the CEI, Career Development Award to P.J.F.), and the National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Clinical Research Excellence (grant 529923, Translational Clinical Research in Major Eye Diseases and through a Practitioner Fellowship to R.H.G.). The CERA receives operational infrastructure support from the Victorian Government