Genome-scale DNA methylome and transcriptome profiling of human neutrophils

Abstract

Methylation of DNA molecules is a key mechanism associated with human disease, altered gene expression and phenotype. Using reduced representation bisulphite sequencing (RRBS) technology we have analysed DNA methylation patterns in healthy individuals and identified genes showing significant inter-individual variation. Further, using whole genome transcriptome analysis (RNA-Seq) on the same individuals we showed a local and specific relationship of exon inclusion and variable DNA methylation pattern. For RRBS, 363 million, 100-bp reads were generated from 13 samples using Illumina GAII and HiSeq2000 platforms. Here we also present additional RRBS data for a female pair of monozygotic twins that was not described in our original publication. Further, We performed RNA-Seq on four of these individuals, generating 174 million, 51-bp high quality reads on an Illumina HiSeq2000 platform. The current data set could be exploited as a comprehensive resource for understanding the nature and mechanism of variable phenotypic traits and altered disease susceptibility due to variable DNA methylation and gene expression patterns in healthy individuals.