Epigenetic variation in HLA genome

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: HLA polymorphism, disease and evolution
• Project/Area Number: 22133003
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Biological Sciences
• Research Institution: Kurume University (2014); Kyushu University (2010-2013)
• Principal Investigator: YAMAMOTO Ken 久留米大学, 医学部, 教授 (60274528)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: HLA / epigenome / DNA methylation / SNP / disease

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We investigated a role of epigenetic variation in HLA genomic region for better understanding of the pathogenesis of HLA-associated diseases. Through the association analysis between HLA alleles in HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1, -DQB1 and -DPB1 loci and DNA methylation levels of CpG sites located in 3.8 Mb of HLA region, we identified correlation of DPB1*05:01 or Cw*07:02 to the methylation levels of the sites around DPA1 and DPB1 promoter region or around Cw locus, respectively. In addition, the expression level of DPB1*05:01 was associated with the methylation levels. These results suggest that particular HLA alleles posses their own epigenetic status in HLA region.

Free Research Field

分子遺伝学