Analysis and Development of Protocols in Bioinformatics for Epigenetic Studies

Abstract

Epigenetic changes are those that occur during cellular division, modifying gene expression without changes on the DNA sequence. They are involved in gene silencing, tissue differentiation and in molecular mechanisms of a number of phenotypes. DNA methylation, an epigenetic modification that changes chromatin, has been studied extensively in various normal and pathologic biological processes. With the advancement of technologies and protocols for DNA sequencing, it is now possible to perform analysis to determine methylation profiles and their association with phenotypes of interest. This project will add the epigenetics perspective to ongoing studies on epilepsies through the development of analytical methodologies and high-performance computational tools. We will use current statistical approaches and up-to-date bioinformatics protocol to analyze bisulfite-treated DNA data. This will allow us to determine methylation profiles and estimate their association to the epilepsy phenotypes on animal models.