ArticleNature genetics2012
Epigenetic polymorphism and the stochastic formation of differentially methylated regions in normal and cancerous tissues.
Article in Nature genetics, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 177 papers.
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Who cites it
177 citing papers in PubMed.
- Discovery of Candidate DNA Methylation Cancer Driver Genes.Cancer discovery · 2021Trial
- Epigenetic insights into extreme longevity in the world's oldest terrestrial animal, Jonathan.Science advances · 2026Article
- A practical guide to studying genome function using single-molecule genomics.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2026Review
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- DNA Methylation Stochasticity Is Linked to Transcriptional Variability and Convergent Epigenetic Disruption across Genetic Subtypes of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.Cancer research · 2026Article
- DNA methylation patterns re-establish during clonal expansion restoring cell-to-cell epialleles heterogeneity.Biology direct · 2026Article
- DNA methylation heterogeneity in complex tumor microenvironment: Quantitative methods, influencing factors, and clinical implications.Genes & diseases · 2026Review
- Epigenetic Instability-Based Metrics in Cell-Free DNA for Early Cancer Detection.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2026Article
- MPCI: A novel metric for quantifying DNA methylation patterns in NGS data.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Local Promoter Methylation Disorder algorithm reveals bidirectional epigenetic disruption in DNMT3A-mutated AML and predicts azacitidine treatment response.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Article
- Article
- Aging by the clock and yet without a program.Nature aging · 2025Review
- Direct genetic transformation bypasses tumor-associated DNA methylation alterations.Genome biology · 2025Article
- Epigenetic age and accelerated aging phenotypes: a tumor biomarker for predicting colorectal cancer.Aging · 2025Article
- DNA Methylation, Aging, and Cancer.Epigenomes · 2025Review
- A Novel Framework for the Design of Minimized Epigenetic Clocks Using the Analysis of DNA Methylation Heterogeneity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Simulation-guided pan-cancer analysis identifies a novel regulator of CpG island hypermethylation heterogeneity.Briefings in bioinformatics · 2025Article
- Evidence of DNA methylation heterogeneity and epipolymorphism in kidney cancer tissue samples.Oncogene · 2025Article
- Biological Aging in Combination with Lifestyle Factors in the Blood-Based Methylome: A Biomarker for Colorectal Cancer Susceptibility in African American Women.Aging and disease · 2025Article
- High-resolution, noninvasive single-cell lineage tracing in mice and humans based on DNA methylation epimutations.Nature methods · 2025Article
117 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
DNA methylation has been comprehensively profiled in normal and cancer cells, but the dynamics that form, maintain and reprogram differentially methylated regions remain enigmatic. Here, we show that methylation patterns within populations of cells from individual somatic tissues are heterogeneous and polymorphic. Using in vitro evolution of immortalized fibroblasts for over 300 generations, we track the dynamics of polymorphic methylation at regions developing significant differential methylation on average. The data indicate that changes in population-averaged methylation occur through a stochastic process that generates a stream of local and uncorrelated methylation aberrations. Despite the stochastic nature of the process, nearly deterministic epigenetic remodeling emerges on average at loci that lose or gain resistance to methylation accumulation. Changes in the susceptibility to methylation accumulation are correlated with changes in histone modification and CTCF occupancy. Characterizing epigenomic polymorphism within cell populations is therefore critical to understanding methylation dynamics in normal and cancer cells.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.