DNA Methylation Profiling Reveals Correlation of Differential Methylation Patterns with Gene Expression in Human Epilepsy

DNA methylation plays important roles in regulating gene expression and has been reported to be related with epilepsy. This study aimed to define differential DNA methylation patterns in drug-refractory epilepsy patients and to investigate the role of DNA methylation in human epilepsy. We performed DNA methylation profiling in brain tissues from epileptic and control patients via methylated-cytosine DNA immunoprecipitation microarray chip. Differentially methylated loci were validated by bisulfite sequencing PCR, and the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of candidate genes were evaluated by reverse transcriptase PCR. We found 224 genes that showed differential DNA methylation between epileptic patients and controls. Among the seven candidate genes, three genes (TUBB2B, ATPGD1, and HTR6) showed relative transcriptional regulation by DNA methylation. TUBB2B and ATPGD1 exhibited hypermethylation and decreased mRNA levels, whereas HTR6 displayed hypomethylation and increased mRNA levels in the epileptic samples. Our findings suggest that certain genes become differentially regulated by DNA methylation in human epilepsy.