1 408 121 ANALYSIS OF GENE EXPRESSION AND METHYLATION DATASETS IDENTIFIED ADAMTS9, FKBP5, AND PFKBF3 AS BIOMARKERS FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS. BACKGROUND: OSTEOARTHRITIS (OA) IS A KIND OF CHRONIC OSTEOARTHROPATHY AND DEGENERATIVE JOINT DISEASE. EPIGENETIC REGULATION IN THE GENE EXPRESSION DYNAMICS HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT IN OA. WE PERFORMED A COMBINED ANALYSIS OF TWO TYPES OF MICROARRAY DATASETS (GENE EXPRESSION AND DNA METHYLATION) TO IDENTIFY METHYLATION-BASED KEY BIOMARKERS TO PROVIDE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF OA. METHODS: WE OBTAINED TWO EXPRESSION PROFILING DATASETS (GSE55235, GSE55457) AND ONE DNA METHYLATION PROFILING DATA SET (GSE63695) FROM THE GENE EXPRESSION OMNIBUS. FIRST, DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES (DEGS) BETWEEN PATIENTS WITH OA AND CONTROLS WERE IDENTIFIED USING THE LIMMA PACKAGE IN R(V3.4.4). THEN, FUNCTION ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS OF DEGS WAS PERFORMED USING A DAVID DATABASE. FOR DNA METHYLATION DATASETS, CHAMP METHYLATION ANALYSIS PACKAGE WAS USED TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION GENES (DMGS). FINALLY, A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF DEGS AND DMGS WAS CONDUCTED TO IDENTIFY GENES THAT EXHIBITED DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION AND METHYLATION SIMULTANEOUSLY. RESULTS: WE IDENTIFIED 112 DEGS AND 2,896 DMGS IN PATIENTS WITH OA COMPARED WITH CONTROLS. FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF DEGS OBTAINED THAT INFLAMMATORY RESPONSES, IMMUNE RESPONSES, AND POSITIVE REGULATION OF APOPTOSIS, TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR (TNF) SIGNALING PATHWAY, AND OSTEOCLAST DIFFERENTIATION MAY BE INVOLVED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF OA. CROSS-ANALYSIS REVEALED 26 GENES THAT EXHIBITED DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION AND METHYLATION IN OA. AMONG THEM, ADAMTS9, FKBP5, AND PFKBF3 WERE IDENTIFIED AS VALUABLE METHYLATION-BASED BIOMARKERS FOR OA. CONCLUSION: IN SUMMARY, OUR STUDY IDENTIFIED DIFFERENT MOLECULAR FEATURES BETWEEN PATIENTS WITH OA AND CONTROLS. THIS MAY PROVIDE NEW CLUES FOR CLARIFYING THE PATHOGENETIC MECHANISMS OF OA. 2019 2 3501 61 IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL BIOMARKERS FOR SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS BY INTEGRATED ANALYSIS OF GENE EXPRESSION AND METHYLATION DATA. INTRODUCTION: SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS (SLE) IS A HETEROGENEOUS AND CHRONIC AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE. ABERRANT DNA METHYLATION OCCURS DURING VARIOUS PROCESSES OF SLE DEVELOPMENT REGULATING THE MRNA EXPRESSION OF INTERRELATED GENES. THIS STUDY AIMS TO SCREEN POTENTIAL DNA METHYLATION MARKERS FOR SLE. METHODS: GENE EXPRESSION AND METHYLATION DATASETS WERE DOWNLOADED FROM THE GENE EXPRESSION OMNIBUS (GEO) DATABASE. DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES (DEGS) BETWEEN SLE PATIENTS AND HEALTHY CONTROLS WERE SCREENED USING THE LIMMA R PACKAGE, AND DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED POSITIONS (DMPS) AND REGIONS (DMRS) WERE IDENTIFIED USING DMPFINDER AND BUMPHUNTER (MINFI). ADDITIONALLY, THE DNA METHYLATION MARKERS TO DISTINGUISH SLE PATIENTS FROM HEALTHY CONTROLS WERE EXPLORED THROUGH RECEIVER OPERATING CHARACTERISTIC (ROC) CURVES AND LOGISTIC REGRESSION ANALYSES. FINALLY, WE VALIDATED THE RESULTS OF THE BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSIS BY PYROSEQUENCING. RESULTS: IN TOTAL, 91 DEGS, 90,092 DMPS, 15 DMRS, AND 13 DMR-ASSOCIATED GENES WERE IDENTIFIED. THROUGH THE INTEGRATIVE ANALYSIS OF DEG- AND DMR-ASSOCIATED GENES, WE IDENTIFIED FIVE TYPE I INTERFERON (IFN)-RELATED GENES AS KEY EPIGENETIC-DRIVEN GENES IN SLE. GO ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT THE FIVE SLE-ASSOCIATED EPIGENETIC-DRIVEN GENES WERE MAINLY ENRICHED IN THE TYPE I IFN SIGNALING PATHWAY INVOLVED IN IMMUNE RESPONSE AND DEFENSE RESPONSE TO VIRUS. MOREOVER, WE IDENTIFIED TWO SLE-SPECIFIC DNA METHYLATION MARKERS, THREE SLE WITHOUT LUPUS NEPHRITIS (SLE-LN(-))-SPECIFIC DNA METHYLATION MARKERS, AND TWO SLE WITH LUPUS NEPHRITIS (SLE-LN(+))-SPECIFIC DNA METHYLATION MARKERS BY STEPWISE LOGISTIC REGRESSION. CONCLUSIONS: OVERALL, OUR STUDY DEMONSTRATES POTENTIAL DNA METHYLATION MARKERS OF SLE, SLE-LN(-), AND SLE-LN(+), WHICH MAY HELP THE DIAGNOSIS, BOOST THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW EPIGENETIC THERAPY, AND CONTRIBUTE TO INDIVIDUALIZED TREATMENT. KEY POINTS * THIS STUDY IDENTIFIED FIVE TYPE I IFN-RELATED GENES AS KEY EPIGENETIC-DRIVEN GENES IN SLE, WHICH SUPPORT THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TYPE I IFN PATHWAY IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF SLE * WE IDENTIFIED NOVEL DNA METHYLATION BIOMARKERS IN SLE, SLE-LN-, AND SLE-LN+ BY A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF BIOINFORMATICS METHODS AND EXECUTED EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION, AND BINARY LOGISTIC REGRESSION ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT THEY HAVE EXCELLENT POTENTIAL * THESE RESULTS MAY PROVIDE NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF SLE, AND IDENTIFY RELIABLE BIOMARKERS FOR SLE, SLE-LN-, AND SLE-LN+, WHICH MAY CONTRIBUTE TO DIAGNOSIS AND INDIVIDUALIZED TREATMENT. 2023 3 6890 46 [SCREENING, FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND CLINICAL VALIDATION OF DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES IN DIABETIC FOOT ULCERS]. OBJECTIVE: TO SCREEN THE DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES (DEGS) IN DIABETIC FOOT ULCERS (DFUS), AND TO PERFORM FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS AND CLINICAL VALIDATION OF THEM, INTENDING TO LAY A THEORETICAL FOUNDATION FOR EPIGENETIC THERAPY OF CHRONIC REFRACTORY WOUNDS. METHODS: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY WAS CONDUCTED. THE GENE EXPRESSION PROFILE DATASET GSE80178 OF DFU PATIENTS IN GENE EXPRESSION OMNIBUS (GEO) WAS SELECTED, AND THE DEG BETWEEN THREE NORMAL SKIN TISSUE SAMPLES AND SIX DFU TISSUE SAMPLES IN THE DATASET WAS ANALYZED AND SCREENED USING THE GEO2R TOOL. FOR THE SCREENED DEG, CLUSTERPROFILER, ORG.HS.EG.DB, GOPLOT, AND GGPLOT2 IN THE R LANGUAGE PACKAGES WERE USED FOR GENE ONTOLOGY (GO) ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS OF BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, MOLECULAR FUNCTIONS, AND CELLULAR COMPONENTS, AND KYOTO ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GENES AND GENOMES (KEGG) ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS, RESPECTIVELY. PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTION (PPI) ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED USING STRING DATABASE TO SCREEN KEY GENES IN THE DEG, AND GO ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS OF KEY GENES WAS PERFORMED USING CYTOHUBBA PLUG-IN IN CYTOSCAPE 3.9.1 SOFTWARE. DFU TISSUE AND NORMAL SKIN TISSUE DISCARDED AFTER SURGERY WERE COLLECTED RESPECTIVELY FROM 15 DFU PATIENTS (7 MALES AND 8 FEMALES, AGED 55-87 YEARS) AND 15 ACUTE WOUND PATIENTS (6 MALES AND 9 FEMALES, AGED 8-52 YEARS) WHO WERE ADMITTED TO XIANG'AN HOSPITAL OF XIAMEN UNIVERSITY FROM SEPTEMBER 2018 TO MARCH 2021. THE MRNA AND PROTEIN EXPRESSIONS OF SMALL PROLINE-RICH REPEAT PROTEIN 1A (SPRR1A) AND LATE CORNIFIED ENVELOPE PROTEIN 3C (LCE3C) WERE DETECTED BY REAL-TIME FLUORESCENT QUANTITATIVE REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY, RESPECTIVELY. DATA WERE STATISTICALLY ANALYZED WITH INDEPENDENT SAMPLE T TEST. RESULTS: COMPARED WITH NORMAL SKIN TISSUE, 492 STATISTICALLY DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED DEGS WERE SCREENED FROM DFU TISSUE OF DFU PATIENTS (CORRECTED P<0.05 OR CORRECTED P<0.01), INCLUDING 363 UP-REGULATED DEGS AND 129 DOWN-REGULATED DEGS. GO TERMINOLOGY ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT DEGS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY ENRICHED IN THE ASPECTS OF SKIN DEVELOPMENT, KERATINOCYTE (KC) DIFFERENTIATION, KERATINIZATION, EPIDERMAL DEVELOPMENT, AND EPIDERMAL CELL DIFFERENTIATION, ETC. (CORRECTED P VALUES ALL <0.01). KEGG PATHWAY ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT DEGS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY ENRICHED IN THE ASPECTS OF TUMOR-ASSOCIATED MICRORNA, RAS RELATED PROTEIN 1 SIGNALING PATHWAY, AND PLURIPOTENT STEM CELL REGULATORY SIGNALING PATHWAY, ETC. (CORRECTED P VALUES ALL <0.01). PPI ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT ENDOPHIAL PROTEIN, SPRR1A, SPRR1B, SPRR2B, SPRR2E, SPRR2F, LCE3C, LCE3E, KERATIN 16 (ALL DOWN-REGULATED DEGS), AND FILOPROTEIN (UP-REGULATED DEG) WERE KEY GENES OF DEGS SCREENED FROM DFU TISSUE OF DFU PATIENTS, WHICH WERE SIGNIFICANTLY ENRICHED IN GO TERMS OF KERATINIZATION, KC DIFFERENTIATION, EPIDERMAL CELL DIFFERENTIATION, SKIN DEVELOPMENT, EPIDERMIS DEVELOPMENT, AND PEPTIDE CROSS-LINKING, ETC. (CORRECTED P VALUES ALL <0.01). THE MRNA EXPRESSIONS OF SPRR1A AND LCE3C IN DFU TISSUE OF DFU PATIENTS WERE 0.588+/-0.082 AND 0.659+/-0.098, RESPECTIVELY, AND THE PROTEIN EXPRESSIONS WERE 0.22+/-0.05 AND 0.24+/-0.04, RESPECTIVELY, WHICH WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN 1.069+/-0.025 AND 1.053+/-0.044 (WITH T VALUES OF 20.91 AND 13.66, RESPECTIVELY, P VALUES ALL <0.01) AND 0.38+/-0.04 AND 0.45+/-0.05 (WITH T VALUES OF 9.69 AND 12.46, RESPECTIVELY, P VALUES ALL <0.01) IN NORMAL SKIN TISSUE OF ACUTE WOUND PATIENTS. CONCLUSIONS: COMPARED WITH NORMAL SKIN TISSUE, THERE IS DEG PROFILE IN DFU TISSUE OF DFU PATIENTS, WITH DEGS BEING SIGNIFICANTLY ENRICHED IN THE ASPECTS OF KC DIFFERENTIATION AND KERATIN FUNCTION. KEY DEGS ARE RELATED TO THE BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF KC, AND THEIR LOW EXPRESSIONS IN DFU TISSUE OF DFU PATIENTS MAY IMPEDE ULCER HEALING. 2022 4 2406 47 EPIGENETIC RESPONSES TO RHINOVIRUS EXPOSURE IN AIRWAY EPITHELIAL CELLS ARE CORRELATED WITH KEY TRANSCRIPTIONAL PATHWAYS IN CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS. BACKGROUND: VIRUSES MAY DRIVE IMMUNE MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPOSIS (CRSWNP), BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE UNDERLYING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS. OBJECTIVES: TO IDENTIFY EPIGENETIC AND TRANSCRIPTIONAL RESPONSES TO A COMMON UPPER RESPIRATORY PATHOGEN, RHINOVIRUS (RV), THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP USING A PRIMARY SINONASAL EPITHELIAL CELL CULTURE MODEL. METHODS: AIRWAY EPITHELIAL CELLS WERE COLLECTED AT SURGERY FROM PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP (CASES) AND FROM CONTROLS WITHOUT SINUS DISEASE, CULTURED, AND THEN EXPOSED TO RV OR VEHICLE FOR 48 H. DIFFERENTIAL GENE EXPRESSION AND DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) BETWEEN CASES AND CONTROLS IN RESPONSE TO RV WERE DETERMINED USING LINEAR MIXED MODELS. WEIGHTED GENE CO-EXPRESSION ANALYSIS (WGCNA) WAS USED TO IDENTIFY (A) CO-REGULATED GENE EXPRESSION AND DNAM SIGNATURES, AND (B) GENES, PATHWAYS, AND REGULATORY MECHANISMS SPECIFIC TO CRSWNP. RESULTS: WE IDENTIFIED 5585 DIFFERENTIAL TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND 261 DNAM RESPONSES (FDR <0.10) TO RV BETWEEN CRSWNP CASES AND CONTROLS. THESE DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSES FORMED THREE CO-EXPRESSION/CO-METHYLATION MODULES THAT WERE RELATED TO CRSWNP AND THREE THAT WERE RELATED TO RV (BONFERRONI CORRECTED P < .01). MOST (95%) OF THE DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED CPGS (DMCS) WERE IN MODULES RELATED TO CRSWNP, WHEREAS THE DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES (DEGS) WERE MORE EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN THE CRSWNP- AND RV-RELATED MODULES. GENES IN THE CRSWNP-RELATED MODULES WERE ENRICHED IN KNOWN CRS AND/OR VIRAL RESPONSE IMMUNE PATHWAYS. CONCLUSION: RV ACTIVATES SPECIFIC EPIGENETIC PROGRAMS AND CORRELATED TRANSCRIPTIONAL NETWORKS IN THE SINONASAL EPITHELIUM OF INDIVIDUALS WITH CRSWNP. THESE NOVEL OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST EPIGENETIC SIGNATURES SPECIFIC TO PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP MODULATE RESPONSE TO VIRAL PATHOGENS AT THE MUCOSAL ENVIRONMENTAL INTERFACE. DETERMINING HOW VIRAL RESPONSE PATHWAYS ARE INVOLVED IN EPITHELIAL INFLAMMATION IN CRSWNP COULD LEAD TO THERAPEUTIC TARGETS FOR THIS BURDENSOME AIRWAY DISORDER. 2023 5 1571 50 DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS IN CD8(+) T CELLS DISCERN PSORIASIS FROM PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS AND CORRELATE WITH CUTANEOUS DISEASE ACTIVITY. BACKGROUND: PSORIASIS IS A T CELL-MEDIATED CHRONIC AUTOIMMUNE/INFLAMMATORY DISEASE. WHILE SOME PATIENTS EXPERIENCE DISEASE LIMITED TO THE SKIN (SKIN PSORIASIS), OTHERS DEVELOP JOINT INVOLVEMENT (PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS; PSA). IN THE ABSENCE OF DISEASE- AND/OR OUTCOME-SPECIFIC BIOMARKERS, AND AS ARTHRITIS CAN PRECEDE SKIN MANIFESTATIONS, DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC DELAYS ARE COMMON AND CONTRIBUTE TO DISEASE BURDEN AND DAMAGE ACCRUAL. OBJECTIVE: ALTERED EPIGENETIC MARKS, INCLUDING DNA METHYLATION, CONTRIBUTE TO EFFECTOR T CELL PHENOTYPES AND ALTERED CYTOKINE EXPRESSION IN AUTOIMMUNE/INFLAMMATORY DISEASES. THIS PROJECT AIMED AT THE IDENTIFICATION OF DISEASE-/OUTCOME-SPECIFIC DNA METHYLATION SIGNATURES IN CD8(+) T CELLS FROM PATIENTS WITH PSORIASIS AND PSA AS COMPARED TO HEALTHY CONTROLS. METHOD: PERIPHERAL BLOOD CD8(+) T CELLS FROM NINE HEALTHY CONTROLS, 10 PSORIASIS, AND SEVEN PSA PATIENTS WERE COLLECTED TO ANALYZE DNA METHYLATION MARKS USING ILLUMINA HUMAN METHYLATION EPIC BEADCHIPS (>850,000 CPGS PER SAMPLE). BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED USING R (MINFI, LIMMA, CHAMP, AND DMRCATE PACKAGES). RESULTS: DNA METHYLATION PROFILES IN CD8(+) T CELLS DIFFERENTIATE HEALTHY CONTROLS FROM PSORIASIS PATIENTS [397 DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED POSITIONS (DMPS); 9 DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED REGIONS (DMRS) WHEN >/=CPGS PER DMR WERE CONSIDERED; 2 DMRS FOR >/=10 CPGS]. FURTHERMORE, PATIENTS WITH SKIN PSORIASIS CAN BE DISCRIMINATED FROM PSA PATIENTS [1,861 DMPS, 20 DMRS (>/=5 CPGS PER REGION), 4 DMRS (>/=10 CPGS PER REGION)]. GENE ONTOLOGY (GO) ANALYSES CONSIDERING GENES WITH >/=1 DMP IN THEIR PROMOTER DELIVERED METHYLATION DEFECTS IN SKIN PSORIASIS AND PSA PRIMARILY AFFECTING THE BMP SIGNALING PATHWAY AND ENDOPEPTIDASE REGULATOR ACTIVITY, RESPECTIVELY. GO ANALYSIS OF GENES ASSOCIATED WITH DMRS BETWEEN SKIN PSORIASIS AND PSA DEMONSTRATED AN ENRICHMENT OF GABAERGIC NEURON AND CORTEX NEURON DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS. TREATMENT WITH CYTOKINE BLOCKERS ASSOCIATED WITH DNA METHYLATION CHANGES [2,372 DMPS; 1,907 DMPS WITHIN PROMOTERS, 7 DMRS (>/=5 CPG PER REGIONS)] AFFECTING TRANSFORMING GROWTH FACTOR BETA RECEPTOR AND TRANSMEMBRANE RECEPTOR PROTEIN SERINE/THREONINE KINASE SIGNALING PATHWAYS. LASTLY, A METHYLATION SCORE INCLUDING TNF AND IL-17 PATHWAY ASSOCIATED DMPS INVERSE CORRELATES WITH SKIN DISEASE ACTIVITY SCORES (PASI). CONCLUSION: PATIENTS WITH SKIN PSORIASIS EXHIBIT DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS IN CD8(+) T CELLS THAT ALLOW DIFFERENTIATION FROM PSA PATIENTS AND HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS, AND REFLECT CLINICAL ACTIVITY OF SKIN DISEASE. THUS, DNA METHYLATION PROFILING PROMISES POTENTIAL AS DIAGNOSTIC AND PROGNOSTIC TOOL TO BE USED FOR MOLECULAR PATIENT STRATIFICATION TOWARD INDIVIDUALIZED TREATMENT. 2021 6 4868 42 OSTEOARTHRITIS RELATED EPIGENETIC VARIATIONS IN MIRNA EXPRESSION AND DNA METHYLATION. OSTEOARTHRITIS (OA) IS CHRONIC ARTHRITIS CHARACTERIZED BY ARTICULAR CARTILAGE DEGRADATION. HOWEVER, A COMPREHENSIVE REGULATORY NETWORK FOR OA-RELATED MICRORNAS AND DNA METHYLATION MODIFICATIONS HAS YET TO BE ESTABLISHED. THUS, WE AIMED TO IDENTIFY EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN MICRORNAS AND DNA METHYLATION AND ESTABLISH THE REGULATORY NETWORK BETWEEN MIRNAS AND DNA METHYLATION. THE MRNA, MIRNA, AND DNA METHYLATION EXPRESSION PROFILES OF HEALTHY OR OSTEOARTHRITIS ARTICULAR CARTILAGE SAMPLES WERE DOWNLOADED FROM GENE EXPRESSION OMNIBUS (GEO) DATABASE, INCLUDING GSE169077, GSE175961, AND GSE162484. THE DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES (DEGS), DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED MIRNAS (DEMS), AND DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED GENES (DMGS) WERE ANALYZED BY THE ONLINE TOOL GEO2R. DAVID AND STRING DATABASES WERE APPLIED FOR FUNCTIONAL ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS AND PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTION (PPI) NETWORK. POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC COMPOUNDS FOR THE TREATMENT OF OA WERE IDENTIFIED BY CONNECTIVITY MAP (CMAP) ANALYSIS. A TOTAL OF 1424 UP-REGULATED DEGS, 1558 DOWN-REGULATED DEGS, 5 DEMS WITH HIGH EXPRESSION, 6 DEMS WITH LOW EXPRESSION, 1436 HYPERMETHYLATED GENES, AND 455 HYPOMETHYLATED GENES WERE SELECTED. A TOTAL OF 136 UP-REGULATED AND 65 DOWNREGULATED GENES WERE IDENTIFIED BY OVERLAPPING DEGS AND DEMS PREDICTED TARGET GENES WHICH WERE ENRICHED IN APOPTOSIS AND CIRCADIAN RHYTHM. A TOTAL OF 39 HYPOMETHYLATED AND 117 HYPERMETHYLATED GENES WERE OBTAINED BY OVERLAPPING DEGS AND DMGS, WHICH WERE ASSOCIATED WITH ECM RECEPTOR INTERACTIONS AND CELLULAR METABOLIC PROCESSES, CELL CONNECTIVITY, AND TRANSCRIPTION. MOREOVER, THE PPI NETWORK SHOWED COL5A1, COL6A1, LAMA4, T3GAL6A, AND TP53 WERE THE MOST CONNECTIVE PROTEINS. AFTER OVERLAPPING OF DEGS, DMGS AND DEMS PREDICTED TARGETED GENES, 4 UP-REGULATED GENES AND 11 DOWN-REGULATED GENES WERE ENRICHED IN THE AXON GUIDANCE PATHWAY. THE TOP TEN GENES RANKED BY PPI NETWORK CONNECTIVITY DEGREE IN THE UP-REGULATED AND DOWNREGULATED OVERLAPPING GENES OF DEGS AND DMGS WERE FURTHER ANALYZED BY THE CMAP DATABASE, AND NINE CHEMICALS WERE PREDICTED AS POTENTIAL DRUGS FOR THE TREATMENT OF OA. IN CONCLUSION, TP53, COL5A1, COL6A1, LAMA4, AND ST3GAL6 MAY PLAY IMPORTANT ROLES IN OA GENESIS AND DEVELOPMENT. 2023 7 972 39 CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE IS ASSOCIATED WITH EPIGENOME-WIDE DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION IN BAL LUNG CELLS. DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS IN CHRONIC PULMONARY OBSTRUCTIVE DISEASE (COPD) MIGHT OFFER NEW INSIGHTS INTO DISEASE PATHOGENESIS. TO ASSESS METHYLATION PROFILES IN THE MAIN COPD TARGET ORGAN, WE PERFORMED AN EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY ON BAL CELLS. BRONCHOSCOPIES WERE PERFORMED IN 18 SUBJECTS WITH COPD AND 15 CONTROL SUBJECTS (EX- AND CURRENT SMOKERS). DNA METHYLATION WAS MEASURED USING THE ILLUMINA METHYLATIONEPIC BEADCHIP KIT, COVERING MORE THAN 850,000 CPGS. DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED POSITIONS (DMPS) WERE EXAMINED FOR 1) ENRICHMENT IN PATHWAYS AND FUNCTIONAL GENE RELATIONSHIPS USING THE KYOTO ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GENES AND GENOMES AND GENE ONTOLOGY, 2) ACCELERATED AGING USING HORVATH'S EPIGENETIC CLOCK, 3) CORRELATION WITH GENE EXPRESSION, AND 4) COLOCALIZATION WITH GENETIC VARIATION. WE FOUND 1,155 BONFERRONI-SIGNIFICANT (P < 6.74 X 10(-8)) DMPS ASSOCIATED WITH COPD, MANY WITH LARGE EFFECT SIZES. FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS IDENTIFIED BIOLOGICALLY PLAUSIBLE PATHWAYS AND GENE RELATIONSHIPS, INCLUDING ENRICHMENT FOR TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR ACTIVITY. STRONG CORRELATION WAS FOUND BETWEEN DNA METHYLATION AND CHRONOLOGICAL AGE BUT NOT BETWEEN COPD AND ACCELERATED AGING. FOR 79 UNIQUE DMPS, DNA METHYLATION CORRELATED SIGNIFICANTLY WITH GENE EXPRESSION IN BAL CELLS. THIRTY-NINE PERCENT OF DMPS WERE COLOCALIZED WITH COPD-ASSOCIATED SNPS. TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE, THIS IS THE FIRST EPIGENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY OF COPD ON BAL CELLS, AND OUR ANALYSES REVEALED MANY DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION SITES. INTEGRATION WITH MRNA DATA SHOWED A STRONG FUNCTIONAL READOUT FOR RELEVANT GENES, IDENTIFYING SITES WHERE DNA METHYLATION MIGHT DIRECTLY AFFECT EXPRESSION. ALMOST HALF OF DMPS WERE COLOCATED WITH SNPS IDENTIFIED IN PREVIOUS GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES OF COPD, SUGGESTING JOINT GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC PATHWAYS RELATED TO DISEASE. 2022 8 3056 35 GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION ANALYSIS IMPLICATES ENRICHMENT OF INTERFERON PATHWAY IN AFRICAN AMERICAN PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS AND EUROPEAN AMERICANS WITH LUPUS NEPHRITIS. SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS (SLE) IS A CHRONIC, MULTISYSTEM, INFLAMMATORY AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE THAT DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTS WOMEN. TRENDS IN SLE PREVALENCE AND CLINICAL COURSE DIFFER BY ANCESTRY, WITH THOSE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ANCESTRY PRESENTING WITH MORE ACTIVE, SEVERE AND RAPIDLY PROGRESSIVE DISEASE THAN EUROPEAN AMERICANS. PREVIOUS RESEARCH ESTABLISHED ALTERED EPIGENETIC SIGNATURES IN SLE PATIENTS COMPARED TO CONTROLS. HOWEVER, THE CONTRIBUTION OF ABERRANT DNA METHYLATION (DNAM) TO THE RISK OF SLE BY ANCESTRY AND DIFFERENCES AMONG PATIENTS WITH SLE-ASSOCIATED LUPUS NEPHRITIS (LN) HAS NOT BEEN WELL DESCRIBED. WE EVALUATED THE DNA METHYLOMES OF 87 INDIVIDUALS INCLUDING 41 SLE PATIENTS, WITH AND WITHOUT LN, AND 46 CONTROLS ENROLLED IN AN ANCESTRY DIVERSE, WELL-CHARACTERIZED COHORT STUDY OF ESTABLISHED SLE (41 SLE PATIENTS [20 SLE-LN+, 21 SLE-LN-] AND 46 SEX-, RACE- AND AGE-MATCHED CONTROLS; 55% AFRICAN AMERICAN, 45% EUROPEAN AMERICAN). PARTICIPANTS WERE GENOTYPED USING THE INFINIUM GLOBAL DIVERSITY ARRAY (GDA), AND GENETIC ANCESTRY WAS ESTIMATED USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS. GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION WAS INITIALLY MEASURED USING THE ILLUMINA METHYLATIONEPIC 850K BEADCHIP ARRAY FOLLOWED BY METHYLATION-SPECIFIC QPCR TO VALIDATE THE METHYLATION STATUS AT PUTATIVE LOCI. DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED POSITIONS (DMP) WERE IDENTIFIED USING A CASE-CONTROL APPROACH ADJUSTED FOR ANCESTRY. WE IDENTIFIED A TOTAL OF 51 DMPS IN CPGS AMONG SLE PATIENTS COMPARED TO CONTROLS. GENES PROXIMAL TO THESE CPGS WERE HIGHLY ENRICHED FOR INVOLVEMENT IN TYPE I INTERFERON SIGNALING. DMPS AMONG EUROPEAN AMERICAN SLE PATIENTS WITH LN WERE SIMILAR TO AFRICAN AMERICAN SLE PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT LN. OUR FINDINGS WERE VALIDATED USING AN ORTHOGONAL, METHYL-SPECIFIC PCR FOR THREE SLE-ASSOCIATED DMPS NEAR OR PROXIMAL TO MX1, USP18, AND IFITM1. OUR STUDY CONFIRMS PREVIOUS REPORTS THAT DMPS IN CPGS ASSOCIATED WITH SLE ARE ENRICHED IN TYPE I INTERFERON GENES. HOWEVER, WE SHOW THAT EUROPEAN AMERICAN SLE PATIENTS WITH LN HAVE SIMILAR DNAM PATTERNS TO AFRICAN AMERICAN SLE PATIENTS IRRESPECTIVE OF LN, SUGGESTING THAT ABERRANT DNAM ALTERS ACTIVITY OF TYPE I INTERFERON PATHWAY LEADING TO MORE SEVERE DISEASE INDEPENDENT OF ANCESTRY. 2023 9 3079 52 GENOME-WIDE METHYLATION AND EXPRESSION ANALYSES REVEAL THE EPIGENETIC LANDSCAPE OF IMMUNE-RELATED DISEASES FOR TOBACCO SMOKING. BACKGROUND: SMOKING IS A MAJOR CAUSAL RISK FACTOR FOR LUNG CANCER, CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD), CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE (CVD), AND IS THE MAIN PREVENTABLE CAUSE OF DEATHS IN THE WORLD. THE COMPONENTS OF CIGARETTE SMOKE ARE INVOLVED IN IMMUNE AND INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES, WHICH MAY INCREASE THE PREVALENCE OF CIGARETTE SMOKE-RELATED DISEASES. HOWEVER, THE UNDERLYING MOLECULAR MECHANISMS LINKING SMOKING AND DISEASES HAVE NOT BEEN WELL EXPLORED. THIS STUDY WAS AIMED TO DEPICT A GLOBAL MAP OF DNA METHYLATION AND GENE EXPRESSION CHANGES INDUCED BY TOBACCO SMOKING AND TO EXPLORE THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS BETWEEN SMOKING AND HUMAN DISEASES THROUGH WHOLE-GENOME BISULFITE SEQUENCING (WGBS) AND RNA-SEQUENCING (RNA-SEQ). RESULTS: WE PERFORMED WGBS ON 72 SAMPLES (36 SMOKERS AND 36 NONSMOKERS) AND RNA-SEQ ON 75 SAMPLES (38 SMOKERS AND 37 NONSMOKERS), AND CYTOKINE IMMUNOASSAY ON PLASMA FROM 22 MALES (9 SMOKERS AND 13 NONSMOKERS) WHO WERE RECRUITED FROM THE CITY OF JINCHENG IN CHINA. BY COMPARING THE DATA OF THE TWO GROUPS, WE DISCOVERED A GENOME-WIDE METHYLATION LANDSCAPE OF DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED REGIONS (DMRS) ASSOCIATED WITH SMOKING. FUNCTIONAL ENRICHMENT ANALYSES REVEALED THAT BOTH SMOKING-RELATED HYPER-DMR GENES (DMGS) AND HYPO-DMGS WERE RELATED TO SYNAPSE-RELATED PATHWAYS, WHEREAS THE HYPO-DMGS WERE SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO CANCER AND ADDICTION. THE DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES (DEGS) REVEALED BY RNA-SEQ ANALYSIS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY ENRICHED IN THE "IMMUNOSUPPRESSION" PATHWAY. CORRELATION ANALYSIS OF DMRS WITH THEIR CORRESPONDING GENE EXPRESSION SHOWED THAT GENES AFFECTED BY TOBACCO SMOKING WERE MOSTLY RELATED TO IMMUNE SYSTEM DISEASES. FINALLY, BY COMPARING CYTOKINE CONCENTRATIONS BETWEEN SMOKERS AND NONSMOKERS, WE FOUND THAT VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR (VEGF) WAS SIGNIFICANTLY UPREGULATED IN SMOKERS. CONCLUSIONS: IN SUM, WE FOUND THAT SMOKING-INDUCED DMRS HAVE DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS IN HYPERMETHYLATED AND HYPOMETHYLATED AREAS BETWEEN SMOKERS AND NONSMOKERS. WE FURTHER IDENTIFIED AND VERIFIED SMOKING-RELATED DMGS AND DEGS THROUGH MULTI-OMICS INTEGRATION ANALYSIS OF DNA METHYLOME AND TRANSCRIPTOME DATA. THESE FINDINGS PROVIDE US A COMPREHENSIVE GENOMIC MAP OF THE MOLECULAR CHANGES INDUCED BY SMOKING WHICH WOULD ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE HARMS OF SMOKING AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH DISEASES. 2021 10 3070 46 GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION PROFILING IN CD8 T-CELLS AND GAMMA DELTA T-CELLS OF ASIAN INDIAN PATIENTS WITH TAKAYASU ARTERITIS. BACKGROUND: TAKAYASU'S ARTERITIS (TA) IS A CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASE THAT AFFECTS AORTA AND ITS MAIN BRANCHES AT THEIR ORIGIN. GENETIC, PATHOLOGICAL AND FUNCTIONAL STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT CD8 AND GAMMA DELTA (GAMMA/DELTA) T-LYMPHOCYTES ARE INVOLVED IN INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES IN AFFECTED REGIONS OF ARTERIES CAUSING VASCULAR DAMAGE. THE MOLECULAR FUNCTION OF THESE LYMPHOCYTES REMAINS UNCLEAR AND CURRENTLY NO EPIGENETIC STUDIES ARE AVAILABLE IN TA. WE PRIMARILY PERFORMED GENOME WIDE METHYLATION ANALYSIS IN CD8 T CELLS AND GAMMADELTA T CELLS OF PATIENTS WITH TA AND COMPARED WITH HEALTHY CONTROLS. METHODS: WE RECRUITED 12 SUBJECTS IN EACH GROUP NAMELY TA PATIENT AND HEALTHY CONTROLS. BLOOD SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED AFTER OBTAINING INFORMED WRITTEN CONSENT. CD8 T CELLS AND GAMMADELTA T CELLS WERE SEPARATED FROM WHOLE BLOOD. DNA EXTRACTED FROM THESE CELLS AND WERE SUBJECTED TO BISULFITE TREATMENT. FINALLY, BISULFITE TREATED DNA WAS LOADED IN INFINIUM METHYLATION EPIC ARRAY. BIOINFORMATICS ANALYSIS WAS USED TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION REGIONS WHICH WERE THEN MAPPED TO GENES. RESULTS: INTERLEUKIN (IL)-32 AND LYMPHOTOXIN-A WERE GENES SIGNIFICANTLY HYPOMETHYLATED IN CD8 T-CELLS. ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE GENES, IL-10, IL-1RN AND IL-27 WERE HYPOMETHYLATED IN GAMMADELTA T CELLS OF TA PATIENTS AS COMPARED TO HEALTHY CONTROLS. GENE ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS USING GENE ONTOLOGY (GO) DATABASE AND KYOTO ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF GENES AND GENOMES (KEGG) IDENTIFIED THAT GENES INVOLVED IN T-CELL RECEPTOR SIGNALLING PATHWAYS WERE HYPOMETHYLATED IN CD8 T-CELLS AND HYPERMETHYLATED IN GAMMADELTA T CELLS OF TA PATIENTS. CONCLUSION: CD8 T-CELLS MIGHT PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN IMMUNOPATHOGENESIS OF INFLAMMATION IN TA, WHEREAS GAMMADELTA T CELLS MAY PLAY A REGULATORY ROLE. 2022 11 3460 33 HYPOMETHYLATION OF THE IL8 PROMOTER IN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS. BACKGROUND: IL-8 IS AN IMPORTANT CHEMOKINE IMPLICATED IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS), BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF IL8 IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CRS. OBJECTIVE: WE SOUGHT TO INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DNA METHYLATION LEVEL IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER AND CRS IN HAN CHINESE SUBJECTS. METHODS: PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS (CRSWNP; N = 187), PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITHOUT NASAL POLYPS (CRSSNP; N = 89), AND CONTROL SUBJECTS (N = 57) WERE ENROLLED IN 2 INDEPENDENT COHORTS. PURIFIED HUMAN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS FROM EACH PARTICIPANT WERE ASSESSED FOR PERCENTAGE DNA METHYLATION OF CPG SITES IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER BY USING BISULFITE PYROSEQUENCING AND FOR FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF METHYLATION STATUS BY USING IN VITRO ASSAYS. RESULTS: DNA METHYLATION OF CPG SITES 1, 2, AND 3, RESPECTIVELY, IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED IN HUMAN NASAL EPITHELIAL CELLS OF PATIENTS WITH CRSWNP COMPARED WITH THAT IN PATIENTS WITH CRSSNP (P < .001) AND CONTROL SUBJECTS (P < .001). PERCENTAGE OF DNA METHYLATION OF THE CPG3 SITE WAS CORRELATED NEGATIVELY WITH BOTH TISSUE EOSINOPHILIC CATIONIC PROTEIN (P < .01) AND MYELOPEROXIDASE (P < .05) LEVELS. IL-1BETA (P < .001) AND TNF-ALPHA (P < .01) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IL8 EXPRESSION ACCOMPANIED BY A REDUCTION IN METHYLATION AT THE CPG3 SITE (P < .001). ELECTROPHORETIC MOBILITY SHIFT ASSAYS DEMONSTRATED THAT METHYLATION STATUS OF CPG3 CHANGED THE BINDING OF OCTAMER-BINDING TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR 1 AND NUCLEAR FACTOR KAPPAB. CONCLUSION: DECREASED DNA METHYLATION OF PARTICULARLY CPG SITES IN THE IL8 PROXIMAL PROMOTER MIGHT PLAY A ROLE IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF CRSWNP. 2019 12 3075 36 GENOME-WIDE EPIGENETIC STUDY OF CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS TISSUES REVEALS DYSREGULATED INFLAMMATORY, IMMUNOLOGIC AND REMODELING PATHWAYS. BACKGROUND: EPIGENETICS STUDIES MECHANISMS SUCH AS DNA METHYLATION, HISTONE MODIFICATIONS, NON-CODING RNAS, AND ALTERNATIVE POLYADENYLATION THAT CAN MODIFY GENE ACTIVITY WITHOUT CHANGING THE UNDERLYING DNA NUCLEOTIDE BASE-PAIR STRUCTURE. BECAUSE THESE CHANGES ARE REVERSIBLE, THEY HAVE POTENTIAL IN DEVELOPING NOVEL THERAPEUTICS. CURRENTLY, SEVEN PHARMACEUTICAL AGENTS TARGETING EPIGENETIC CHANGES ARE FDA APPROVED AND COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE FOR TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCERS. HOWEVER, STUDIES INVESTIGATING EPIGENETICS IN CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS (CRS) HAVE NOT BEEN UNDERTAKEN PREVIOUSLY IN THE UNITED STATES. OBJECTIVES: THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE SINONASAL DNA METHYLATION PATTERNS IN CRS VERSUS CONTROLS, TO DISCERN ENVIRONMENTALLY-INDUCED EPIGENETIC CHANGES IMPACTING CRS SUBJECTS. METHODS AND RESULTS: ETHMOIDAL SAMPLES FROM CRS AND INFERIOR TURBINATE MUCOSAL TISSUE SAMPLES FROM CONTROLS WITHOUT CRS WERE STUDIED. DNA METHYLATION WAS STUDIED BY REDUCED REPRESENTATION BISULFITE SEQUENCING. RADMETH(R) BIOSTATISTICAL PACKAGE WAS USED TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED REGIONS (DMRS) BETWEEN CRS AND CONTROLS. INGENUITY PATHWAY ANALYSIS OF DMRS WAS PERFORMED TO IDENTIFY TOP UPSTREAM REGULATORS AND CANONICAL PATHWAYS. NINETY-THREE SAMPLES FROM 64 CRS SUBJECTS (36 CRSWNP; 28 CRSSNP) AND 29 CONTROLS WERE STUDIED. CRS AND CONTROL SAMPLES DIFFERED IN 13 662 CPGS SITES AND 1381 DMRS. TOP UPSTREAM REGULATORS IDENTIFIED INCLUDED: 1. CRS VERSUS CONTROLS: TGFB1, TNF, TP53, DGCR8, AND BETA-ESTRADIOL. 2. CRSWNP VERSUS CONTROLS: TGFB1, CTNNB1, LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE, ID2, AND TCF7L2. 3. CRSSNP VERSUS CONTROLS: MYOD1, ACETONE, ID2, ST8SIA4, AND LEPR. CONCLUSIONS: DIFFERENTIAL PATTERNS OF METHYLATION WERE IDENTIFIED BETWEEN CONTROLS AND CRS, CRSWNP, AND CRSSNP. EPIGENETIC, ENVIRONMENTALLY-INDUCED CHANGES RELATED TO NOVEL, INFLAMMATORY, IMMUNOLOGIC, AND REMODELING PATHWAYS APPEAR TO AFFECT EPITHELIAL INTEGRITY, CELL PROLIFERATION, HOMEOSTASIS, VASCULAR PERMEABILITY, AND OTHER YET UNCHARACTERIZED PATHWAYS AND GENES. 2023 13 3046 38 GENOME-WIDE ANALYSIS OF DNA METHYLATION IDENTIFIES S100A13 AS AN EPIGENETIC BIOMARKER IN INDIVIDUALS WITH CHRONIC (>/= 30 YEARS) TYPE 2 DIABETES WITHOUT DIABETIC RETINOPATHY. BACKGROUND: THIS STUDY AIMED TO DETERMINE THE EPIGENETIC BIOMARKERS OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY (DR) IN SUBJECTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS (T2DM). THIS RETROSPECTIVE STUDY IS BASED ON THE SHANGHAI XINJING COMMUNITY PREVENTION AND TREATMENT ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM OF CHRONIC DISEASES. THE SUBJECTS ENROLLED HEREIN WERE T2DM PATIENTS WHO HAD UNDERGONE LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP EVALUATION IN THE SYSTEM. TWO CONSECUTIVE STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED. IN THE DISCOVERY COHORT, AMONG 19 SUBJECTS WHO HAD DEVELOPED DR WITH A DM DURATION < 3 YEARS AND 21 SUBJECTS WITHOUT DR > 30 YEARS AFTER BEING DIAGNOSED WITH DM, AN INFINIUM HUMAN METHYLATION 850 BEADCHIP WAS USED TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION REGIONS (DMRS) AND DIFFERENTIAL METHYLATION SITES (DMSS). THE FUNCTION OF THE GENES WAS ASSESSED THROUGH KEGG ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS, GENE ONTOLOGY (GO) ANALYSIS, AND PATHWAY NETWORK ANALYSIS. IN THE REPLICATION COHORT, 87 DR PATIENTS WITH A SHORT DM DURATION AND 89 PATIENTS WITHOUT DR OVER A DM DURATION > 20 YEARS WERE COMPARED TO ASSESS THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DMSS AND DR UPON PYROSEQUENCING. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 34 DMRS WERE IDENTIFIED. GENES CONTAINING DMSS WITH THE TOP 5 HIGHEST BETA VALUE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DR AND NON-DR PARTICIPANTS WERE LOCATED ON CHROMOSOME 1 AND WERE PRESENT IN THE S100A13 GENE, WHICH WAS ASSOCIATED WITH 71 GO TERMS. TWO S100A13 GENE SITES, I.E., CG02873163 AND CG11343894, DISPLAYED A GOOD CORRELATION WITH DR ON PYROSEQUENCING. CONCLUSIONS: DMSS IN THE S100A13 GENE MAY BE POTENTIAL BIOMARKERS OF DR. 2020 14 2418 37 EPIGENETIC SIGNATURE OF CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN IN HUMAN T CELLS. OBJECTIVE: DETERMINE IF CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN (LBP) IS ASSOCIATED WITH DNA METHYLATION SIGNATURES IN HUMAN T CELLS THAT WILL REVEAL NOVEL MECHANISMS AND POTENTIAL THERAPEUTIC TARGETS AND EXPLORE THE FEASIBILITY OF EPIGENETIC DIAGNOSTIC MARKERS FOR PAIN-RELATED PATHOPHYSIOLOGY. METHODS: GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION ANALYSIS OF 850,000 CPG SITES IN WOMEN AND MEN WITH CHRONIC LBP AND PAIN-FREE CONTROLS WAS PERFORMED. T CELLS WERE ISOLATED (DISCOVERY COHORT, N = 32) AND USED TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED CPG SITES, AND GENE ONTOLOGIES AND MOLECULAR PATHWAYS WERE IDENTIFIED. A POLYGENIC DNA METHYLATION SCORE FOR LBP WAS GENERATED IN BOTH WOMEN AND MEN. VALIDATION WAS PERFORMED IN AN INDEPENDENT COHORT (VALIDATION COHORT, N = 63) OF CHRONIC LBP AND HEALTHY CONTROLS. RESULTS: ANALYSIS WITH THE DISCOVERY COHORT REVEALED A TOTAL OF 2,496 AND 419 DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED CPGS IN WOMEN AND MEN, RESPECTIVELY. IN WOMEN, MOST OF THESE SITES WERE HYPOMETHYLATED AND ENRICHED IN GENES WITH FUNCTIONS IN THE EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX, IN THE IMMUNE SYSTEM (IE, CYTOKINES), OR IN EPIGENETIC PROCESSES. IN MEN, A UNIQUE CHRONIC LBP DNA METHYLATION SIGNATURE WAS IDENTIFIED CHARACTERIZED BY SIGNIFICANT ENRICHMENT FOR GENES FROM THE MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX. SEX-SPECIFIC POLYGENIC DNA METHYLATION SCORES WERE GENERATED TO ESTIMATE THE PAIN STATUS OF EACH INDIVIDUAL AND CONFIRMED IN THE VALIDATION COHORT USING PYROSEQUENCING. CONCLUSION: THIS STUDY REVEALS SEX-SPECIFIC DNA METHYLATION SIGNATURES IN HUMAN T CELLS THAT DISCRIMINATES CHRONIC LBP PARTICIPANTS FROM HEALTHY CONTROLS. 2021 15 3477 43 IDENTIFICATION OF ABNORMALLY METHYLATED DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES IN CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS BY INTEGRATED BIOINFORMATICS ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: DNA METHYLATION PLAYS A VITAL ROLE AS AN EPIGENETIC CHANGE THAT CONTRIBUTES TO CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS. OBJECTIVE: THIS STUDY AIMED TO INTEGRATE TWO METHYLATION DATASETS (GSE173081 AND GSE59962) AND TWO GENE EXPRESSION DATASETS (GSE10334 AND GES16134) TO IDENTIFY ABNORMALLY METHYLATED DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED GENES RELATED TO CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS. METHODS: DIFFERENTIALLY METHYLATED GENES WERE OBTAINED. FUNCTIONAL ENRICHMENT ANALYSIS OF DMGS WAS PERFORMED. THE PROTEIN-PROTEIN INTERACTION (PPI) NETWORK WAS CONSTRUCTED USING STRING AND CYTOSCAPE SOFTWARE. FINALLY, THE HUB GENES WERE SELECTED FROM THE PPI NETWORK BY USING CYTOHUBBA. RESULTS: IN TOTAL, 122 HYPOMETHYLATED AND HIGHLY EXPRESSED GENES WERE ENRICHED IN THE BIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THE DIFFERENTIATION OF EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX ORGANIZATION, EXTRACELLULAR STRUCTURE ORGANIZATION, AND CELL CHEMOTAXIS. THE THREE SELECTED HUB GENES OF THE PPI NETWORK WERE IL1B, KDR, AND MMP9. A TOTAL OF 122 HYPERMETHYLATED AND LOWLY EXPRESSED GENES WERE IDENTIFIED, AND BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, SUCH AS CORNIFICATION, EPIDERMIS DEVELOPMENT, SKIN DEVELOPMENT, AND KERATINOCYTE DIFFERENTIATION WERE ENRICHED. CDSN DSG1, AND KRT2 WERE IDENTIFIED AS THE TOP 3 HUB GENES OF THE PPI NETWORK. CONCLUSION: BASED ON THE COMPREHENSIVE BIOINFORMATICS ANALYSIS, SIX HUB GENES (IL1B, KDR, MMP9, CDSN DSG1, AND KRT2) WERE ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS. OUR FINDINGS PROVIDE NOVEL INSIGHTS INTO THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING EPIGENETIC CHANGES IN CHRONIC PERIODONTITIS. 2023 16 1908 35 ENRICHMENT OF GENOMIC PATHWAYS BASED ON DIFFERENTIAL DNA METHYLATION ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC POSTSURGICAL PAIN AND ANXIETY IN CHILDREN: A PROSPECTIVE, PILOT STUDY. WE HAVE REPORTED CHILD ANXIETY SENSITIVITY (CHILD ANXIETY SENSITIVITY INDEX [CASI]) PREDICTS CHRONIC POSTSURGICAL PAIN (CPSP). HEREIN, WE EVALUATED DNA METHYLATION PROFILES TO UNDERSTAND THE GENE-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS UNDERLYING CPSP AND CASI, TO IDENTIFY SHARED, ENRICHED, GENOMIC PATHWAYS. IN 73 PROSPECTIVELY RECRUITED ADOLESCENTS UNDERGOING SPINE FUSION, PREOPERATIVE CASI AND PAIN DATA OVER 12 MONTHS AFTER SURGERY WERE COLLECTED. DNA FROM THE PERIPHERAL BLOOD OF EVALUABLE SUBJECTS WITH (N = 16) AND WITHOUT CPSP (N = 40) WERE ANALYZED USING METHYLATIONEPIC ARRAYS. WE IDENTIFIED 637 AND 2,445 DIFFERENTIALLY DNA METHYLATED POSITIONS (DMPS) ASSOCIATED WITH CPSP AND CASI, RESPECTIVELY (P 0.05). NON-HISPANIC BLACK INDIVIDUALS WERE OVERREPRESENTED IN THE PAIN GROUP (P = 0.003). AT RAW P < 0.05 CUTOFF, WE IDENTIFIED A TOTAL OF 19,710 CPG PROBES, INCLUDING 13,951 HYPERMETHYLATED CPG PROBES, FOR WHICH DNA METHYLATION LEVEL WAS HIGHER IN THE GROUPS WITH HIGHEST PAIN GRADES. WE ALSO IDENTIFIED 5,759 HYPOMETHYLATED CPG PROBES FOR WHICH DNA METHYLATION LEVEL WAS LOWER IN THE PAIN GROUPS WITH HIGHER PAIN GRADES. IPA REVEALED THAT PAIN-RELATED DMRS WERE ENRICHED ACROSS MULTIPLE PATHWAYS AND UPSTREAM REGULATORS. THE TOP 10 CANONICAL PATHWAYS WERE LINKED TO CELLULAR SIGNALING PROCESSES RELATED TO IMMUNE RESPONSES (I.E., ANTIGEN PRESENTATION, PD-1, PD-L1 CANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY, B CELL DEVELOPMENT, IL-4 SIGNALING, TH1 AND TH2 ACTIVATION PATHWAY, AND PHAGOSOME MATURATION). MOREOVER, IN TERMS OF UPSTREAM REGULATORS, NDUFAF3 WAS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT (P = 8.6E-04) UPSTREAM REGULATOR. OUR FINDINGS SUPPORT PREVIOUS PRELIMINARY WORK SUGGESTING THE IMPORTANCE OF EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IN KNEE PAIN AND THE NEED FOR FUTURE WORK TO UNDERSTAND THE EPIGENETIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHRONIC PAIN. 2022