The hotspots of structural polymorphisms and structural mutability in the human genome remain to be explained mechanistically. We examine associations of structural mutability with germline DNA methylation and with non-allelic homologous recombination (NAHR) mediated by low-copy repeats (LCRs). Combined evidence from four human sperm methylome maps, human genome evolution, structural polymorphisms in the human population, and previous genomic and disease studies consistently points to a strong association of germline hypomethylation and genomic instability. Specifically, methylation deserts, the ~1% fraction of the human genome with the lowest methylation in the germline, show a tenfold enrichment for structural rearrangements that occurred in the human genome since the branching of chimpanzee and are highly enriched for fast-evolving loci that regulate tissue-specific gene expression. Analysis of copy number variants (CNVs) from 400 human samples identified using a custom-designed array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) chip, combined with publicly available structural variation data, indicates that association of structural mutability with germline hypomethylation is comparable in magnitude to the association of structural mutability with LCR-mediated NAHR. Moreover, rare CNVs occurring in the genomes of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and developmental delay and de novo CNVs occurring in those diagnosed with autism are significantly more concentrated within hypomethylated regions. These findings suggest a new connection between the epigenome, selective mutability, evolution, and human disease.
Pubmed ID: 22615578 RIS Download
Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.
Portal to interactively visualize genomic data. Provides reference sequences and working draft assemblies for collection of genomes and access to ENCODE and Neanderthal projects. Includes collection of vertebrate and model organism assemblies and annotations, along with suite of tools for viewing, analyzing and downloading data.
View all literature mentionsA portal to biomedical and genomic information. NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information for the better understanding of molecular processes affecting human health and disease.
View all literature mentionsCollection of curated structural variation in the human genome. Catalogue of human genomic structural variation identified in healthy control samples for studies aiming to correlate genomic variation with phenotypic data. It is continuously updated with new data from peer reviewed research studies. The Database is no longer accepting direct submission of data as they are currently part of a collaboration with two new archival CNV databases at EBI and NCBI, called DGVa and dbVAR, respectively. One of the changes to DGV as part of this collaborative effort is that they will no longer be accepting direct submissions, but rather obtain the datasets from DGVa (short for DGV archive). This will ensure that the three databases are synchronized, and will allow for an official accessioning of variants.
View all literature mentionsBioinformatics resource system including web server and web service for functional annotation and enrichment analyses of gene lists. Consists of comprehensive knowledgebase and set of functional analysis tools. Includes gene centered database integrating heterogeneous gene annotation resources to facilitate high throughput gene functional analysis.
View all literature mentionsSoftware designed to quickly find sequences of 95% and greater similarity of length 25 bases or more.
View all literature mentions