Asthma is the most prevalent chronic lung inflammatory disorder characterized by reversible airflow obstruction, affecting 358 million people worldwide, with aggravating factors like obesity, attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder, socioeconomic status like poor healthcare affordability and facility, smoking and alcohol intake. RNA sequencing (RNA‐seq) in atopic asthma, childhood asthma and adult‐onset severe asthma has improved our understanding of cellular and molecular pathways involved. Genome‐wide DNA methylation studies investigating 5‐methylcytosine in CpG sites have linked methylation in lung cells with asthma endotypes and genetic risk. Studies focusing on integration of genomics and interactomes have also been performed in asthma. However, this multi‐faceted asthma phenotype together with genetic heterogeneity and environmental influences makes it challenging to fully understand the features that trigger and influence asthma development and progression. Towards addressing these challenges, we investigated transcriptomic and methylomic data in a twin cohort of asthmatic and nonasthmatic individuals.
Dhondalay GKR, Bunning B, Bauer RN, Barnathan ES, Maniscalco C, Baribaud F, Nadeau KC, Andorf S. Transcriptomic and methylomic features in asthmatic and nonasthmatic twins. Allergy. 2020 Apr;75(4):989-992. PMC7176546.