Epigenetic Project - (May/02/2011 )

Hi everybody

I should write a project for epigenetic study: which kind of dna better to be chosen? from blood or blood derived cell line?
can the dna methylation level be different in blood and in cell line?
what do you suggest?

thanks

You did not mention what is your purpose of studying methylation. Because DNA methylation is somatic, much like mutation, you have to use the DNA derived from the cells or tissues of your interest.

pcrman on Tue May 3 06:26:57 2011 said:

it was a general question, because I don 't know if the methylation level of DNA from blood is different from the methylation of DNA from limphoblastoid cell line (transformed cell line) obtained from the same subject..
Any advice would be appreciated.

Yes, different types of cells have very different patterns of DNA methylation. You can use cell lines derived from the type of tissue or disease to study methylation.