# Nanopore based profiling of epigenetic state

> **NIH NIH R01** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $492,993

## Abstract

Project Summary: Though a reference human genome and even excellent characterization of
the epigenome (ENCODE, Epigenetics Roadmap) has been generated, the significance of
noncoding genetic or epigenetic changes is still far from clear. With the advent of affordable DNA-
sequencing technologies, methods have been developed for examining nuclear organization,
chromatin state/histone post translation modifications, chromatin accessibility and methylation
state. But these methods do not directly interrogate the DNA strand, and the reads are typically
too short to provide critical correlative information. We propose the development of a novel
epigenetic characterization methodology, fundamentally through the practical implementation of
the sequencing of modified bases using a nanopore sequencing platform. Nanopore sequencing
directly probes the chemical structure of the molecule in the pore with exquisite sensitivity. Its
long reads enable correlation of epigenetic state over large (>10kb) stretches of the genome; each
of these reads originates from a single cell, probing the epigenetic heterogeneity of the sample.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9895852
- **Project number:** 5R01HG009190-04
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Winston George Timp
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $492,993
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-04-19 → 2021-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9895852

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9895852, Nanopore based profiling of epigenetic state (5R01HG009190-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9895852. Licensed CC0.

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