Identical twins carry a persistent epigenetic signature of early genome programming
- Dongen, J. van
- Gordon, S.D.
- McRae, A.F.
- Odintsova, V.V.
- Mbarek, H.
- Breeze, C.E.
- Sugden, K.
- Lundgren, S.
- Castillo-Fernandez, J.E.
- Hannon, E.
- Moffitt, T.E.
- Hagenbeek, F.A.
- Beijsterveldt, C.E.M. van
- Hottenga, J.J.
- Tsai, P.C.
- Min, J.L.
- Hemani, G.
- Ehli, E.A.
- Paul, F.
- Stern, C.D.
- Heijmans, B.T.
- Slagboom, P.E.
- Daxinger, L.
- Maarel, S.M. van der
- Geus, E.J.C. de
- Willemsen, G.
- Montgomery, G.W.
- Reversade, B.
- Ollikainen, M.
- Kaprio, J.
- Spector, T.D.
- Bell, J.T.
- Mill, J.
- Caspi, A.
- Martin, N.G.
- Boomsma, D.I.
- Bios Consortium
- Genetics DNA Methylation Consortiu
DOIAbstract
The mechanisms underlying how monozygotic (or identical) twins arise are yet to be determined. Here, the authors investigate this in an epigenome-wide association study, showing that monozygotic twinning has a characteristic DNA methylation signature in adult somatic tissues.Monozygotic (MZ) twins and higher-order multiples arise when a zygote splits during pre-implantation stages of development. The mechanisms underpinning this event have remained a mystery. Because MZ twinning rarely runs in families, the leading hypothesis is that it occurs at random. Here, we show that MZ twinning is strongly associated with a stable DNA methylation signature in adult somatic tissues. This signature spans regions near telomeres and centromeres, Polycomb...
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