ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the aberrance of histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In 15 patients with IgAN and 15 healthy volunteers, H3K4me3 variations in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were analyzed using chromatin immunoprecipitation and microarray analysis (ChIP-chip). ChIP real-time PCR was used to validate the microarray results. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was carried out to examine the correlations between the mRNA expression profiles and H3K4me3 levels.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>We identified 83 genes that displayed significant H3K4me3 differences in IgAN patients compared with healthy subjects. Among them, 39 genes showed increased H3K4me3 and 44 genes had decreased H3K4me3 levels. The results of ChIP real-time PCR were well consistent with the microarray data. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed the correlations between the mRNA expressions and the methylation levels of H3K4me3.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>IgAN patients have significant alterations in H3K4me3, and the genes with aberrant H3K4me3 may provide insights into the pathogenesis of IgAN.</p>