Research Article

Comparative analyses of histone H3K9 trimethylations in the heart and spleen of normal humans

Published: March 17, 2014
Genet. Mol. Res. 13 (1) : 1697-1706 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4238/2014.January.14.5
Cite this Article:
W. Sui, C. Cao, W. Che, J. Chen, W. Xue, P. Liu, L. Guo, Y. Dai (2014). Comparative analyses of histone H3K9 trimethylations in the heart and spleen of normal humans. Genet. Mol. Res. 13(1): 1697-1706. https://doi.org/10.4238/2014.January.14.5
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Abstract

The global features of trimethylations of histone 3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me3) have been well studied in recent years; however, most of these studies were performed in mammalian cell lines. In this study, we generated genome-wide maps of H3K9me3 of the human heart and spleen using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) technology. We examined the global patterns of H3K9me3 in both tissues and found that modifications were closely associated with tissue-specific expression, function, and development. In addition, we found that 169 genes displayed significant H3K9me3 differences between the heart and spleen. Among these genes, 64 were heart-H3K9me3-specific, 87 genes were spleen-H3K9me3-specific, and 18 were shared in both heart- and spleen-H3K9me3. In conclusion, we observed significant differences in H3K9me3 in the heart and spleen, which may help to explain epigenetic differences between these tissues. Such novel findings highlight the significance of H3K9me3 as a potential biomarker or promising target for epigenetic-based disease treatment.

The global features of trimethylations of histone 3 at lysine 9 (H3K9me3) have been well studied in recent years; however, most of these studies were performed in mammalian cell lines. In this study, we generated genome-wide maps of H3K9me3 of the human heart and spleen using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) technology. We examined the global patterns of H3K9me3 in both tissues and found that modifications were closely associated with tissue-specific expression, function, and development. In addition, we found that 169 genes displayed significant H3K9me3 differences between the heart and spleen. Among these genes, 64 were heart-H3K9me3-specific, 87 genes were spleen-H3K9me3-specific, and 18 were shared in both heart- and spleen-H3K9me3. In conclusion, we observed significant differences in H3K9me3 in the heart and spleen, which may help to explain epigenetic differences between these tissues. Such novel findings highlight the significance of H3K9me3 as a potential biomarker or promising target for epigenetic-based disease treatment.