Abstract

Epigenetic changes in certain genes have been shown to strongly contribute to the development of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and the behavior of involved cell types. Microarray methylation datasets were used to analyze DNA methylation in RA. Differentially methylated CpGs were selected using the bioinformatics tools and significant CpG islands were further experimentally analyzed. TNFRSF25 was selected based on differentially methylated CpGs island analysis. The results revealed that the promoter region of the TNFRSF25 gene was consistently non-methylated in PBMCs from healthy controls, in RA patients, and in the synovial fluid of RA patients. Therefore, CpG motifs probably play an essential role in the expression and can be used to distinguish between RA patients and healthy individuals.