Genome-wide profiling in treatment-naive early rheumatoid arthritis reveals DNA methylome changes in T and B lymphocytes

Glossop, John R.; Emes, Richard D.; Nixon, Nicola B.; Packham, Jon C.; Fryer, Anthony A.; Mattey, Derek L.; Farrell, William E.

Abstract

Aim: Although aberrant DNA methylation has been described in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), no studies have interrogated this epigenetic modification in early disease. Following recent investigations of T and B lymphocytes in established disease, we now characterize in these cell populations genome-wide DNA methylation in treatment-naive patients with early RA. Patients & methods: HumanMethylation450 BeadChips were used to examine genome-wide DNA methylation in lymphocyte populations from 23 early RA patients and 11 healthy individuals. Results: Approximately 2000 CpGs in each cell type were differentially methylated in early RA. Clustering analysis identified a novel methylation signature in each cell type (150 sites in T lymphocytes, 113 sites in B lymphocytes) that clustered all patients separately from controls. A subset of sites differentially methylated in early RA displayed similar changes in established disease. Conclusion: Treatment-naive early RA patients display novel disease-specific DNA methylation aberrations, supporting a potential role for these changes in the development of RA.

Citation

Glossop, J. R., Emes, R. D., Nixon, N. B., Packham, J. C., Fryer, A. A., Mattey, D. L., & Farrell, W. E. (2016). Genome-wide profiling in treatment-naive early rheumatoid arthritis reveals DNA methylome changes in T and B lymphocytes. Epigenomics, 8(2), 209-224. https://doi.org/10.2217/epi.15.103

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Nov 10, 2015
• Publication Date: 2016
• Deposit Date: Aug 24, 2023
• Journal: EPIGENOMICS
• Print ISSN: 1750-1911
• Publisher: Future Medicine
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 209-224
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2217/epi.15.103