wn below in Figures 2 and Twin in 3-year-old 50-year-old Figure 2. Differential

Question

wn below in Figures 2 and Twin in 3-year-old 50-year-old Figure 2. Differential DNA methylation between two sets of monozygotic twins, one set at age 3 (eft), one set pt age 50 (right) using AIMS (amplification of inter- methylated sites). Different bands, corresponding to sibling-specific changes of DNA methylation, are indicated with arrows. Panel A of Figure 2 in Fraga et al., 2005. Epigenetic differences arise during the lifetime of mon gotic twins. PNAS ozy 102:10604-10609. Copyright 2005 National Academy of Sciences, USA.) ical Fates?" by Sarah A. Wojiski

Explanation / Answer

DNA methylation pattern results showed that the expression pattern of 3 year old twins was almost similar and the 50 year old twins had different expression profiles. It was seen that there was four times differentially expressed genes in the 50 year old twin pair (older) as compared to 3 year old twin pair (younger). Although the genomic information is uniform in different cells, this could be explained by the epigenetic changes during the lifetime of an individual, epigenome varies from tissue to tissue providing specific expression to each cell. This could be attributed to both external and internal factors such as smoking habits, lifestyle, physical activity etc. These patterns diverge as the twins become older. Younger twins would have similar lifestyle, environment etc thus showing minimal changes in DNA methylation patterns as compared to older twins having different lifestyles and exposures contributing to their uneven DNA methylation events and thus differential expression patterns (as shown in the given figure).

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