Fig. 1

Differential variability of gene expression and DNA methylation across three immune cell types. a Study design and analytical approach. Hypervariable genes and CpGs were identified using a combined statistical approach at stringent significance thresholds, i.e., Benjamini–Hochberg-corrected P < 0.05 and gene expression or DNA methylation variability measurement (EV or MV) difference ≥10% relative to the observed range. b The number of statistically significant hypervariable genes (HVGs) that are cell type-specific, shared between two of the studied immune cell types, or common to all three. c Scatter plot of the EV values of 6138 genes assessed in our data set versus the replication set. We found good concordance between the two independent cohorts, despite the application of different analytical platforms (Pearson’s r = 0.48, P < 2.2 × 10⁻¹⁶). d Ranking of all 11,980 protein-coding genes analyzed in our study according to EV values (i.e., from high to low EV values). We highlight the 100 genes that showed the highest and lowest EV values in the independent replication data set in red and blue, respectively. e The number of hypervariable CpG positions (HVPs). Abbreviations: M monocytes, N neutrophils, T naïve T cells