Colonic Mucosal Epigenome and Microbiome Development in Children and Adolescents

Figure 3

Epigenetic interactions with age, the microbiome, and ulcerative colitis (UC) at KHDC3L (C6orf221). Average methylation at 3 CpG sites in the promoter (lacking CpG island) region of the gene significantly decreased with age (a). DNA methylation at this DMR significantly (Pearson ) correlated with decreasing abundance of Streptococcus and the increased abundance of Bacteroides, Parabacteroides, and Roseburia (b). Methylation of the promoter DMR tended to be decreased in UC patients (), along with significant decrease of methylation () at a distinct downstream CpG site in the 3′UTR (c), arguing for UC specific epigenetic rearrangement at this gene.