DNA methylation analysis by bisulfite conversion coupled to double multiplexed amplicon-based next-generation sequencing (NGS)

Abstract

Methylation of cytosine bases in DNA is one of the main epigenetic signals regulating gene expression and chromatin structure. The distribution of DNA methylation in the genome has a cell-type-specific pattern and can be modulated by internal or external stimuli. One of the most powerful approaches to investigate DNA methylation patterns is bisulfite conversion of the DNA followed by DNA sequencing, which allows to determine methylation patterns at a single-cytosine resolution. Here, we present a protocol for bisulfite DNA methylation analysis of targeted genomic regions using amplicon-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) on an Illumina sequencing system. We use a PCR-free library generation approach and implement a nested strategy for double molecular barcoding of samples (combining indexing of adapters and in-line barcoding of individual amplicons) which allows highly multiplexed sequencing. Also, we discuss the main limitations of this technology in particular in relation to clonal DNA amplification and other PCR artifacts.