BackgroundOur recent study demonstrated that DNA methylation status in a set of CpGs located in ELOVL2, C1orf132, TRIM59, KLF14, and FHL2 can accurately predict calendar age in blood. In the present work, we used these markers to evaluate the effect of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) on the age-related methylation signature of human blood.MethodsDNA methylation in 32 CpGs was investigated in 16 donor-recipient pairs using pyrosequencing. DNA was isolated from the whole blood collected from recipients 27–360 days (mean 126) after HSCT and from the donors shortly before the HSCT.ResultsIt was found that in the recipients, the predicted age did not correlate with their calendar age but was correlated with the calendar age (r = 0.94, p = 4 × 10−8) and predicted age (r = 0.97, p = 5 × 10−10) of a respective donor. Despite this strong correlation, the predicted age of a recipient was consistently lower than the predicted age of a donor by 3.7 years (p = 7.8 × 10−4). This shift was caused by hypermethylation of the C1orf132 CpGs, for C1orf132 CpG_1. Intriguingly, the recipient-donor methylation difference correlated with calendar age of the donor (r = 0.76, p = 6 × 10−4). This finding could not trivially be explained by shifts of the major cellular factions of blood.ConclusionsWe confirm the single previous report that after HSCT, the age of the donor is the major determinant of age-specific methylation signature in recipient’s blood. A novel finding is the unique methylation dynamics of C1orf132 which encodes MIR29B2C implicated in the self-renewing of hematopoietic stem cells. This observation suggests that C1orf132 could influence graft function after HSCT.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13148-016-0257-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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The authors presented the results of DNA polymorphism investigation of blood, buccal swabs and hair follicles originating from patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The real-time and multiplex assays based on polymerase chain reaction within the range of autosomal as well as Y-chromosomal markers were applied to assess the possible dangers arising from investigation of these materials in forensic genetics. The results revealed that not only post-transplant blood and buccal swab, but also recipient hair, up to now regarded as devoid of any donor’s cells, do not constitute entirely safe material for forensic purposes. Their analysis can lead to the false identification of gender or male haplotype. The investigation of sex-determining region Y and Y-chromosome short tandem repeats performed in female recipients with male donors resulted in the designation of donor’s DNA in hair cells as well as in blood and buccal swabs. Therefore, biological stains gathered from crime scenes should not be analysed exclusively based on the investigation of male-specific markers.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00414-012-0771-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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