Exploring genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in Aicardi syndrome

Aim: To explore differential DNA methylation (DNAm) in Aicardi syndrome (AIC), a severe neurodevelopmental disorder with largely unknown etiology. Patients & methods: We characterized DNAm in AIC female patients and parents using the Illumina 450 K array. Differential DNAm was assessed using the local outlier factor algorithm, and results were validated via qPCR in a larger set of AIC female patients, parents and unrelated young female controls. Functional epigenetic modules analysis was used to detect pathways integrating both genome-wide DNAm and RNA-seq data. Results & conclusion: We detected differential methylation patterns in AIC patients in several neurodevelopmental and/or neuroimmunological networks. These networks may be part of the underlying pathogenic mechanisms involved in the disease.