Differential methylation in the discovery cohort of ClinR
Whole blood DNA methylation levels at seven individual CpG sites and 60
differentially methylated regions (DMR) were significantly associated
with ClinR (Figure 2a, Table 2, Table S1). The Q-Q plot (Figure S2a) and
the inflation factor λ of 1.064 indicated no obvious inflation of the
results. Three out of the seven CpG sites were significantly correlated
with gene-expression level in cis (FDR<0.05), resulting
in four CpG-gene pairs that showed negative correlation (Table S2).
These four eQTM genes were enriched in two pathways: G Protein Signaling
Pathways and Hemostasis (P<0.01, Table S3)
We also identified four epigenome-wide significant CpG sites and 67 DMRs
that associated with ClinR in nasal brushes (Table S4-S5). The Q-Q plot
(Figure S3a) and the λ of 1.125 indicated no obvious inflation of the
results. We verified the CpG sites identified from whole blood samples
in nasal brushes, and found that one CpG (cg15404785) associated with
ClinR showed nominal significance (P<0.05) and the same
direction of effect in nasal brushes (Table S6). Four ClinR-associated
CpG sites were correlated to expression level of four genes incis (nominal significant P<0.05) in nasal brushes, with
one pair (cg07673230-RPL30 (Ribosomal Protein L30)) also being
nominal significant and in the same direction in the PIAMA dataset
(Table S7).