TY - JOUR
T1 - Autosomal genetic variation is associated with DNA methylation in regions variably escaping X-chromosome inactivation
AU - Luijk, Rene
AU - Wu, Haoyu
AU - Ward-Caviness, Cavin K.
AU - Hannon, Eilis
AU - Carnero-Montoro, Elena
AU - Min, Josine L.
AU - Mandaviya, Pooja
AU - Muller-Nurasyid, Martina
AU - Mei, Hailiang
AU - van der Maarel, Silvere M.
AU - Relton, Caroline
AU - Mill, Jonathan
AU - Waldenberger, Melanie
AU - Bell, Jordana T.
AU - Jansen, Rick
AU - Zhernakova, Alexandra
AU - Franke, Lude
AU - 't Hoen, Peter A. C.
AU - Boomsma, Dorret I.
AU - van Duijn, Cornelia M.
AU - van Greevenbroek, Marleen M. J.
AU - Veldink, Jan H.
AU - Wijmenga, Cisca
AU - van Meurs, Joyce
AU - Daxinger, Lucia
AU - Slagboom, P. Eline
AU - van Zwet, Erik W.
AU - Heijmans, Bastiaan T.
AU - BIOS Consortium
PY - 2018/9/14
Y1 - 2018/9/14
N2 - X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), i.e., the inactivation of one of the female X chromosomes, restores equal expression of X-chromosomal genes between females and males. However, similar to 10% of genes show variable degrees of escape from XCI between females, although little is known about the causes of variable XCI. Using a discovery data-set of 1867 females and 1398 males and a replication sample of 3351 females, we show that genetic variation at three autosomal loci is associated with female-specific changes in X-chromosome methylation. Through cis-eQTL expression analysis, we map these loci to the genes SMCHD1/METTL4, TRIM6/HBG2, and ZSCAN9. Low-expression alleles of the loci are predominantly associated with mild hypomethylation of CpG islands near genes known to variably escape XCI, implicating the autosomal genes in variable XCI. Together, these results suggest a genetic basis for variable escape from XCI and highlight the potential of a population genomics approach to identify genes involved in XCI.
AB - X-chromosome inactivation (XCI), i.e., the inactivation of one of the female X chromosomes, restores equal expression of X-chromosomal genes between females and males. However, similar to 10% of genes show variable degrees of escape from XCI between females, although little is known about the causes of variable XCI. Using a discovery data-set of 1867 females and 1398 males and a replication sample of 3351 females, we show that genetic variation at three autosomal loci is associated with female-specific changes in X-chromosome methylation. Through cis-eQTL expression analysis, we map these loci to the genes SMCHD1/METTL4, TRIM6/HBG2, and ZSCAN9. Low-expression alleles of the loci are predominantly associated with mild hypomethylation of CpG islands near genes known to variably escape XCI, implicating the autosomal genes in variable XCI. Together, these results suggest a genetic basis for variable escape from XCI and highlight the potential of a population genomics approach to identify genes involved in XCI.
KW - HUMAN GENOME
KW - LINKED GENE
KW - HISTONE H3
KW - EXPRESSION
KW - SMCHD1
KW - VARIABILITY
KW - OBJECTIVES
KW - EPIGENOMES
KW - ROTTERDAM
KW - CLUSTERS
KW - Humans
KW - DNA Methylation/genetics
KW - Male
KW - Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone/genetics
KW - Gene Expression Profiling
KW - Genetic Variation
KW - Female
KW - Methyltransferases/genetics
KW - Tripartite Motif Proteins/genetics
KW - Gene Expression
KW - gamma-Globins/genetics
KW - DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics
KW - CpG Islands
KW - Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases/genetics
KW - X Chromosome Inactivation/genetics
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-018-05714-3
DO - 10.1038/s41467-018-05714-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 30218040
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 9
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 3738
ER -