Authors
CCY Wong, Emma L Meaburn, Angelica Ronald, TS Price, Aaron R Jeffries, LC Schalkwyk, R Plomin, J Mill
Publication date
2014/4
Journal
Molecular psychiatry
Volume
19
Issue
4
Pages
495-503
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Description
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) defines a group of common, complex neurodevelopmental disorders. Although the aetiology of ASD has a strong genetic component, there is considerable monozygotic (MZ) twin discordance indicating a role for non-genetic factors. Because MZ twins share an identical DNA sequence, disease-discordant MZ twin pairs provide an ideal model for examining the contribution of environmentally driven epigenetic factors in disease. We performed a genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation in a sample of 50 MZ twin pairs (100 individuals) sampled from a representative population cohort that included twins discordant and concordant for ASD, ASD-associated traits and no autistic phenotype. Within-twin and between-group analyses identified numerous differentially methylated regions associated with ASD. In addition, we report significant correlations between DNA methylation and …
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