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Consistent inverse correlation between DNA methylation of the first intron and gene expression across tissues and species

Overview of attention for article published in Epigenetics & Chromatin, June 2018
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  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • Among the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#22 of 615)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (90th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (95th percentile)

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Title
Consistent inverse correlation between DNA methylation of the first intron and gene expression across tissues and species
Published in
Epigenetics & Chromatin, June 2018
DOI 10.1186/s13072-018-0205-1
Pubmed ID
Authors

Dafni Anastasiadi, Anna Esteve-Codina, Francesc Piferrer

Abstract

DNA methylation is one of the main epigenetic mechanisms for the regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes. In the standard model, methylation in gene promoters has received the most attention since it is generally associated with transcriptional silencing. Nevertheless, recent studies in human tissues reveal that methylation of the region downstream of the transcription start site is highly informative of gene expression. Also, in some cell types and specific genes it has been found that methylation of the first intron, a gene feature typically rich in enhancers, is linked with gene expression. However, a genome-wide, tissue-independent, systematic comparative analysis of the relationship between DNA methylation in the first intron and gene expression across vertebrates has not been explored yet. The most important findings of this study are: (1) using different tissues from a modern fish, we show a clear genome-wide, tissue-independent quasi-linear inverse relationship between DNA methylation of the first intron and gene expression. (2) This relationship is conserved across vertebrates, since it is also present in the genomes of a model pufferfish, a model frog and different human tissues. Among the gene features, tissues and species interrogated, the first intron's negative correlation with the gene expression was most consistent. (3) We identified more tissue-specific differentially methylated regions (tDMRs) in the first intron than in any other gene feature. These tDMRs have positive or negative correlation with gene expression, indicative of distinct mechanisms of tissue-specific regulation. (4) Lastly, we identified CpGs in transcription factor binding motifs, enriched in the first intron, the methylation of which tended to increase with the distance from the first exon-first intron boundary, with a concomitant decrease in gene expression. Our integrative analysis clearly reveals the important and conserved role of the methylation level of the first intron and its inverse association with gene expression regardless of tissue and species. These findings not only contribute to our basic understanding of the epigenetic regulation of gene expression but also identify the first intron as an informative gene feature regarding the relationship between DNA methylation and gene expression where future studies should be focused.

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X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 46 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 311 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 311 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 72 23%
Student > Master 50 16%
Researcher 41 13%
Student > Bachelor 24 8%
Student > Doctoral Student 20 6%
Other 32 10%
Unknown 72 23%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 104 33%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 58 19%
Medicine and Dentistry 12 4%
Computer Science 10 3%
Environmental Science 6 2%
Other 37 12%
Unknown 84 27%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 25. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 September 2023.
All research outputs
#1,558,464
of 25,498,750 outputs
Outputs from Epigenetics & Chromatin
#22
of 615 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#32,474
of 343,330 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Epigenetics & Chromatin
#2
of 21 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,498,750 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 93rd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 615 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.8. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 343,330 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 90% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 21 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.