Comparative analysis of DNA methylation patterns of equine sarcoid and healthy skin samples

Objective: In this study, for the first time we report the genome-wide DNA methylation profile of skin tumour in horses and describe differentially methylated genomic regions (DMRs) with respect to healthy skin.

Materials & methods: The comparative analysis of DNA methylation patterns detected using Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBS) technique, allowed identification of 136 regions showing differential methylation between sarcoid and normal skin tissue.

Results: Most of the identified DMRs were short fragments, less than 1 kb in size, located in the intergenic regions. Among identified DMRs there were also regions located within genes directly or indirectly related with oncogenesis. We additionally validated 9 CpG sites showing hypomethylation and 9 CpG sites that were hypermethylated in lesional sample, confirming the identified changes in the DNA methylation.

Conclusion: Knowledge on the changes taking place in the process of DNA methylation may provide a basis for the development of new alternative diagnostic or therapeutic approaches to equine sarcoids.