Hou Fei, Zhou Xu, Zhou Shunheng, Liu Haizhou, Huang Yu-E, Yuan Mengqin, Zhu Jicun, Cao Xinyu, Jiang Wei
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China.
iScience. 2022 May 30;25(6):104493. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104493. eCollection 2022 Jun 17.
Long-term isolation is one of the risk factors that astronauts will encounter in spaceflight. At present, few researches have explored DNA methylation dynamics during long-term isolation. In this study, using time series DNA methylation data from "Mars-500" mission, we conducted a multi-step analysis to investigate the characteristics and dynamic patterns of DNA methylation as well as their functional insights during long-term isolation. The results showed that genome-wide methylation changes were minimal. In the six identified DNA methylation dynamic patterns, most of significantly fluctuating CpG sites could be returned to the baseline in post-isolation, and the remaining sites persistently decreased during isolation. Next, functional enrichment analysis of genes with each pattern revealed strong functional specificity. Some patterns were also significantly associated with nervous system diseases, digestive system diseases and cancers. In conclusion, the DNA methylation dynamics during long-term isolation have great functional significance, and might be helpful for protection of astronaut health.
长期隔离是宇航员在太空飞行中会遇到的风险因素之一。目前，很少有研究探索长期隔离期间的DNA甲基化动态变化。在本研究中，我们利用“火星-500”任务的时间序列DNA甲基化数据，进行了多步骤分析，以研究长期隔离期间DNA甲基化的特征和动态模式及其功能见解。结果表明，全基因组甲基化变化极小。在六种确定的DNA甲基化动态模式中，大多数显著波动的CpG位点在隔离后可恢复到基线水平，其余位点在隔离期间持续下降。接下来，对每种模式的基因进行功能富集分析，发现了很强的功能特异性。一些模式还与神经系统疾病、消化系统疾病和癌症显著相关。总之，长期隔离期间的DNA甲基化动态变化具有重要的功能意义，可能有助于保护宇航员的健康。
