# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Epigenetics and DNA Methylation Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/epigenetics-and-dna-methylation/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Epigenetics and DNA Methylation research in the Class of 2026?

Metabolism-linked epigenetics dominates the Class of 2026, with histone lactylation and metabolic reprogramming seeing massive increases. While foundational DNA methylation profiling remains central, the field is rapidly shifting toward understanding how metabolic states directly control epigenetic regulation in cancer and aging.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Epigenetics and DNA Methylation |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 10,133 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | DNA methylation, Metabolic reprogramming, histone lactylation |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 68–265 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved Jul 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Genetic drivers of heterogeneity in type 2 diabetes pathophysiology | Ken Suzuki, Konstantinos Hatzikotoulas, Lorraine Southam, Henry J Taylor, Xianyong Yin, Kim M Lorenz, Ravi Mandla, Alicia Huerta-Chagoya, Giorgio E M Melloni, Stavroula Kanoni, Nigel W Rayner, Ozvan Bocher, Ana Luiza Arruda, Kyuto Sonehara, Shinichi Namba, Simon S K Lee, Michael H Preuss, Lauren E Petty, Philip Schroeder, Brett Vanderwerff, Mart Kals, Fiona Bragg, Kuang Lin, Xiuqing Guo, Weihua Zhang, Jie Yao, Young Jin Kim, Mariaelisa Graff, Fumihiko Takeuchi, Jana Nano, Amel Lamri, Masahiro Nakatochi, Sanghoon Moon, Robert A Scott, James P Cook, Jung-Jin Lee, Ian Pan, Daniel Taliun, Esteban J Parra, Jin-Fang Chai, Lawrence F Bielak, Yasuharu Tabara, Yang Hai, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Niels Grarup, Tamar Sofer, Matthias Wuttke, Chloé Sarnowski, Christian Gieger, Darryl Nousome, Stella Trompet, Soo-Heon Kwak, Jirong Long, Meng Sun, Lin Tong, Wei-Min Chen, Suraj S Nongmaithem, Raymond Noordam, Victor J Y Lim, Claudia H T Tam, Yoonjung Yoonie Joo, Chien-Hsiun Chen, Laura M Raffield, Bram Peter Prins, Aude Nicolas, Lisa R Yanek, Guanjie Chen, Jennifer A Brody, Edmond Kabagambe, Ping An, Anny H Xiang, Hyeok Sun Choi, Brian E Cade, Jingyi Tan, K Alaine Broadaway, Alice Williamson, Zoha Kamali, Jinrui Cui, Manonanthini Thangam, Linda S Adair, Adebowale Adeyemo, Carlos A Aguilar-Salinas, Tarunveer S Ahluwalia, Sonia S Anand, Alain Bertoni, Jette Bork-Jensen, Ivan Brandslund, Thomas A Buchanan, Charles F Burant, Adam S Butterworth, Mickaël Canouil, Juliana C N Chan, Li-Ching Chang, Miao-Li Chee, Ji Chen, Shyh-Huei Chen, Yuan-Tsong Chen, Zhengming Chen, Lee-Ming Chuang, Mary Cushman, John Danesh, Swapan K Das, H Janaka de Silva, George Dedoussis, Latchezar Dimitrov, Ayo P Doumatey, Shufa Du, Qing Duan, Kai-Uwe Eckardt, Leslie S Emery, Daniel S Evans, Michele K Evans, Krista Fischer, James S Floyd, Ian Ford, Oscar H Franco, Timothy M Frayling, Barry I Freedman, Pauline Genter, Hertzel C Gerstein, Vilmantas Giedraitis, Clicerio González-Villalpando, Maria Elena González-Villalpando, Penny Gordon-Larsen, Myron Gross, Lindsay A Guare, Sophie Hackinger, Liisa Hakaste, Sohee Han, Andrew T Hattersley, Christian Herder, Momoko Horikoshi, Annie-Green Howard, Willa Hsueh, Mengna Huang, Wei Huang, Yi-Jen Hung, Mi Yeong Hwang, Chii-Min Hwu, Sahoko Ichihara, Mohammad Arfan Ikram, Martin Ingelsson, Md Tariqul Islam, Masato Isono, Hye-Mi Jang, Farzana Jasmine, Guozhi Jiang, Jost B Jonas, Torben Jørgensen, Frederick K Kamanu, Fouad R Kandeel, Anuradhani Kasturiratne, Tomohiro Katsuya, Varinderpal Kaur, Takahisa Kawaguchi, Jacob M Keaton, Abel N Kho, Chiea-Chuen Khor, Muhammad G Kibriya, Duk-Hwan Kim, Florian Kronenberg, Johanna Kuusisto, Kristi Läll, Leslie A Lange, Kyung Min Lee, Myung-Shik Lee, Nanette R Lee, Aaron Leong, Liming Li, Yun Li, Ruifang Li-Gao, Symen Ligthart, Cecilia M Lindgren, Allan Linneberg, Ching-Ti Liu, Jianjun Liu, Adam E Locke, Tin Louie, Jian'an Luan, Andrea O Luk, Xi Luo, Jun Lv, Julie A Lynch, Valeriya Lyssenko, Shiro Maeda, Vasiliki Mamakou, Sohail Rafik Mansuri, Koichi Matsuda, Thomas Meitinger, Olle Melander, Andres Metspalu, Huan Mo, Andrew D Morris, Filipe A Moura, Jerry L Nadler, Michael A Nalls, Uma Nayak, Ioanna Ntalla, Yukinori Okada, Lorena Orozco, Sanjay R Patel, Snehal Patil, Pei Pei, Mark A Pereira, Annette Peters, Fraser J Pirie, Hannah G Polikowsky, Bianca Porneala, Gauri Prasad, Laura J Rasmussen-Torvik, Alexander P Reiner, Michael Roden, Rebecca Rohde, Katheryn Roll, Charumathi Sabanayagam, Kevin Sandow, Alagu Sankareswaran, Naveed Sattar, Sebastian Schönherr, Mohammad Shahriar, Botong Shen, Jinxiu Shi, Dong Mun Shin, Nobuhiro Shojima, Jennifer A Smith, Wing Yee So, Alena Stančáková, Valgerdur Steinthorsdottir, Adrienne M Stilp, Konstantin Strauch, Kent D Taylor, Barbara Thorand, Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, Brian Tomlinson, Tam C Tran, Fuu-Jen Tsai, Jaakko Tuomilehto, Teresa Tusie-Luna, Miriam S Udler, Adan Valladares-Salgado, Rob M van Dam, Jan B van Klinken, Rohit Varma, Niels Wacher-Rodarte, Eleanor Wheeler, Ananda R Wickremasinghe, Ko Willems van Dijk, Daniel R Witte, Chittaranjan S Yajnik, Ken Yamamoto, Kenichi Yamamoto, Kyungheon Yoon, Canqing Yu, Jian-Min Yuan, Salim Yusuf, Matthew Zawistowski, Liang Zhang, Wei Zheng, VA Million Veteran Program, Leslie J Raffel, Michiya Igase, Eli Ipp, Susan Redline, Yoon Shin Cho, Lars Lind, Michael A Province, Myriam Fornage, Craig L Hanis, Erik Ingelsson, Alan B Zonderman, Bruce M Psaty, Ya-Xing Wang, Charles N Rotimi, Diane M Becker, Fumihiko Matsuda, Yongmei Liu, Mitsuhiro Yokota, Sharon L R Kardia, Patricia A Peyser, James S Pankow, James C Engert, Amélie Bonnefond, Philippe Froguel, James G Wilson, Wayne H H Sheu, Jer-Yuarn Wu, M Geoffrey Hayes, Ronald C W Ma, Tien-Yin Wong, Dennis O Mook-Kanamori, Tiinamaija Tuomi, Giriraj R Chandak, Francis S Collins, Dwaipayan Bharadwaj, Guillaume Paré, Michèle M Sale, Habibul Ahsan, Ayesha A Motala, Xiao-Ou Shu, Kyong-Soo Park, J Wouter Jukema, Miguel Cruz, Yii-Der Ida Chen, Stephen S Rich, Roberta McKean-Cowdin, Harald Grallert, Ching-Yu Cheng, Mohsen Ghanbari, E-Shyong Tai, Josee Dupuis, Norihiro Kato, Markku Laakso, Anna Köttgen, Woon-Puay Koh, Donald W Bowden, Colin N A Palmer, Jaspal S Kooner, Charles Kooperberg, Simin Liu, Kari E North, Danish Saleheen, Torben Hansen, Oluf Pedersen, Nicholas J Wareham, Juyoung Lee, Bong-Jo Kim, Iona Y Millwood, Robin G Walters, Kari Stefansson, Emma Ahlqvist, Mark O Goodarzi, Karen L Mohlke, Claudia Langenberg, Christopher A Haiman, Ruth J F Loos, Jose C Florez, Daniel J Rader, Marylyn D Ritchie, Sebastian Zöllner, Reedik Mägi, Nicholas A Marston, Christian T Ruff, David A van Heel, Sarah Finer, Joshua C Denny, Toshimasa Yamauchi, Takashi Kadowaki, John C Chambers, Maggie C Y Ng, Xueling Sim, Jennifer E Below, Philip S Tsao, Kyong-Mi Chang, Mark I McCarthy, James B Meigs, Anubha Mahajan, Cassandra N Spracklen, Josep M Mercader, Michael Boehnke, Jerome I Rotter, Marijana Vujkovic, Benjamin F Voight, Andrew P Morris, Eleftheria Zeggini | Konstantinos Hatzikotoulas | University of Manchester, United Kingdom | Nature | 265 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07019-6 |
| 2 | Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss | Laura C. Hinte, Daniel Castellano‐Castillo, Adhideb Ghosh, Kate Melrose, Emanuel Gasser, Falko Noé, Lucas Massier, Hua Dong, Wenfei Sun, Anne Hoffmann, Christian Wolfrum, Mikael Rydén, Niklas Mejhert, Matthias Blüher, Ferdinand von Meyenn | Ferdinand von Meyenn | Life Science Zurich Graduate School, Switzerland | Nature | 201 | 10.1038/s41586-024-08165-7 |
| 3 | Positive feedback regulation between glycolysis and histone lactylation drives oncogenesis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma | Fei Li, Wenzhe Si, Li Xia, Deshan Yin, Tianjiao Wei, Ming Tao, Xiaona Cui, Jin Yang, Tianpei Hong, Rui Wei | Fei Li, Wenzhe Si, Li Xia | Peking University Third Hospital, China | Molecular Cancer | 167 | 10.1186/s12943-024-02008-9 |
| 4 | H3K18 Lactylation Potentiates Immune Escape of Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer | Cai Zhang, Lijie Zhou, Mingyuan Zhang, Yue Du, Cai Li, Huijun Ren, Lu Zheng | Cai Zhang | The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, China | Cancer Research | 166 | 10.1158/0008-5472.can-23-3513 |
| 5 | Histone lactylation drives CD8+ T cell metabolism and function | Deblina Raychaudhuri, Pratishtha Singh, Bidisha Chakraborty, Mercedes Hennessey, Aminah J Tannir, Shrinidhi Byregowda, Seanu Meena Natarajan, Abel Trujillo-Ocampo, Jin Seon Im, Sangeeta Goswami | Sangeeta Goswami | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, United States | Nature Immunology | 138 | 10.1038/s41590-024-01985-9 |
| 6 | An epigenetic barrier sets the timing of human neuronal maturation | Gabriele Ciceri, Arianna Baggiolini, Hyein S Cho, Meghana Kshirsagar, Silvia Benito-Kwiecinski, Ryan M Walsh, Kelly A Aromolaran, Alberto J Gonzalez-Hernandez, Hermany Munguba, So Yeon Koo, Nan Xu, Kaylin J Sevilla, Peter A Goldstein, Joshua Levitz, Christina S Leslie, Richard P Koche, Lorenz Studer | Gabriele Ciceri, Lorenz Studer | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, United States | Nature | 123 | 10.1038/s41586-023-06984-8 |
| 7 | Transient loss of Polycomb components induces an epigenetic cancer fate | V Parreno, V Loubiere, B Schuettengruber, L Fritsch, C C Rawal, M Erokhin, B Győrffy, D Normanno, M Di Stefano, J Moreaux, N L Butova, I Chiolo, D Chetverina, A-M Martinez, G Cavalli | Anne‐Marie Martinez, Giacomo Cavalli | CNRS, France | Nature | 109 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07328-w |
| 8 | Lactylation‐Driven IGF2BP3‐Mediated Serine Metabolism Reprogramming and RNA m6A—Modification Promotes Lenvatinib Resistance in HCC | Yuanxiang Lu, Jinghan Zhu, Yuxin Zhang, Wentao Li, Yixiao Xiong, Yunhui Fan, Yang Wu, Jianping Zhao, Changzhen Shang, Huifang Liang, Wanguang Zhang | Jianping Zhao, Changzhen Shang, Huifang Liang, Wanguang Zhang | Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China | Advanced Science | 106 | 10.1002/advs.202401399 |
| 9 | Tumor cell-intrinsic epigenetic dysregulation shapes cancer-associated fibroblasts heterogeneity to metabolically support pancreatic cancer | Ningning Niu, Xuqing Shen, Zheng Wang, Yueyue Chen, Yawen Weng, Feier Yu, Yingying Tang, Ping Lu, Mingzhu Liu, Liwei Wang, Yongwei Sun, Minwei Yang, Baiyong Shen, Jiabin Jin, Zipeng Lu, Kuirong Jiang, Yufeng Shi, Jing Xue | Jing Xue | Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China | Cancer Cell | 99 | 10.1016/j.ccell.2024.03.005 |
| 10 | scMD facilitates cell type deconvolution using single-cell DNA methylation references | Manqi Cai, Jingtian Zhou, Chris McKennan, Jiebiao Wang | Jiebiao Wang | University of Pittsburgh, United States | Communications Biology | 96 | 10.1038/s42003-023-05690-5 |
| 11 | ChIP-Atlas 3.0: a data-mining suite to explore chromosome architecture together with large-scale regulome data | Zhaonan Zou, Tazro Ohta, Shinya Oki | Zhaonan Zou | Kumamoto University, Japan | Nucleic Acids Research | 94 | 10.1093/nar/gkae358 |
| 12 | Causality-enriched epigenetic age uncouples damage and adaptation | Kejun Ying, Hanna Liu, Andrei E Tarkhov, Marie C Sadler, Ake T Lu, Mahdi Moqri, Steve Horvath, Zoltán Kutalik, Xia Shen, Vadim N Gladyshev | Vadim N. Gladyshev | Brigham and Women's Hospital, United States | Nature Aging | 90 | 10.1038/s43587-023-00557-0 |
| 13 | Lactate reprograms glioblastoma immunity through CBX3-regulated histone lactylation | Shuai Wang, Tengfei Huang, Qiulian Wu, Huairui Yuan, Xujia Wu, Fanen Yuan, Tingting Duan, Suchet Taori, Yingming Zhao, Nathaniel W Snyder, Dimitris G Placantonakis, Jeremy N Rich | Dimitris G. Placantonakis, Jeremy N. Rich | University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, United States | Journal of Clinical Investigation | 88 | 10.1172/jci176851 |
| 14 | DPF2 reads histone lactylation to drive transcription and tumorigenesis | Guijin Zhai, Ziping Niu, Zixin Jiang, Fei Zhao, Siyu Wang, Chen Chen, Wei Zheng, Aiyuan Wang, Yong Zang, Yanpu Han, Kai Zhang | Guijin Zhai, Ziping Niu, Zixin Jiang, Kai Zhang | Tianjin Medical University, China | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 81 | 10.1073/pnas.2421496121 |
| 15 | Histone lactylation couples cellular metabolism with developmental gene regulatory networks | Fjodor Merkuri, Megan Rothstein, Marcos Simoes-Costa | Marcos Simões-Costa | Cornell University, United States | Nature Communications | 77 | 10.1038/s41467-023-44121-1 |
| 16 | Epigenetic regulators of clonal hematopoiesis control CD8 T cell stemness during immunotherapy | Tae Gun Kang, Xin Lan, Tian Mi, Hongfeng Chen, Shanta Alli, Song-Eun Lim, Sheetal Bhatara, Anoop Babu Vasandan, Grace Ward, Sofia Bentivegna, Josh Jang, Marianne L Spatz, Jin-Hwan Han, Balthasar Clemens Schlotmann, Jakob Schmidt Jespersen, Christopher Derenzo, Peter Vogel, Jiyang Yu, Stephen Baylin, Peter Jones, Casey O'Connell, Kirsten Grønbæk, Ben Youngblood, Caitlin C Zebley | Ben Youngblood, Caitlin C. Zebley | St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, United States | Science | 75 | 10.1126/science.adl4492 |
| 17 | Systematic epigenome editing captures the context-dependent instructive function of chromatin modifications | Cristina Policarpi, Marzia Munafò, Stylianos Tsagkris, Valentina Carlini, Jamie A Hackett | Jamie A. Hackett | European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Italy | Nature Genetics | 74 | 10.1038/s41588-024-01706-w |
| 18 | Histone H3K9 Lactylation Confers Temozolomide Resistance in Glioblastoma via LUC7L2‐Mediated MLH1 Intron Retention | Qu Yue, Zhao Wang, Yixiong Shen, Yufei Lan, Xiangyang Zhong, Xin Luo, Tao Yang, Manqing Zhang, Boming Zuo, Tianci Zeng, Jiankun Lu, Yuankai Wang, Boyang Liu, Hongbo Guo | Boyang Liu, Hongbo Guo | Southern Medical University, China | Advanced Science | 74 | 10.1002/advs.202309290 |
| 19 | Ultrafast bisulfite sequencing detection of 5-methylcytosine in DNA and RNA | Qing Dai, Chang Ye, Iryna Irkliyenko, Yiding Wang, Hui-Lung Sun, Yun Gao, Yushuai Liu, Alana Beadell, José Perea, Ajay Goel, Chuan He | Qing Dai, Chuan He | The University of Chicago, United States | Nature Biotechnology | 70 | 10.1038/s41587-023-02034-w |
| 20 | Mechanisms of action and resistance in histone methylation-targeted therapy | Makoto Yamagishi, Yuta Kuze, Seiichiro Kobayashi, Makoto Nakashima, Satoko Morishima, Toyotaka Kawamata, Junya Makiyama, Kako Suzuki, Masahide Seki, Kazumi Abe, Kiyomi Imamura, Eri Watanabe, Kazumi Tsuchiya, Isao Yasumatsu, Gensuke Takayama, Yoshiyuki Hizukuri, Kazumi Ito, Yukihiro Taira, Yasuhito Nannya, Arinobu Tojo, Toshiki Watanabe, Shinji Tsutsumi, Yutaka Suzuki, Kaoru Uchimaru | Makoto Yamagishi, Yutaka Suzuki, Kaoru Uchimaru | The University of Tokyo, Japan | Nature | 68 | 10.1038/s41586-024-07103-x |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

The Class of 2026 for Epigenetics and DNA Methylation is defined by a strong focus on DNA methylation and the emerging importance of metabolic interplay, highlighted by metabolic reprogramming and histone lactylation. Topics like epigenetic regulation and epigenetic clocks underscore the persistent interest in biological aging and fundamental regulatory mechanisms. This indicates a paradigm shift toward integrating epigenetics with metabolic states, particularly the role of metabolites like lactate in histone modifications.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

The most dramatic shifts involve metabolism-linked epigenetics. Histone lactylation skyrocketed with a 7-fold increase, emerging as a major focus area alongside glycolysis and metabolic reprogramming, which saw a 2.3-fold increase. In contrast, traditional topics like histone modification and chromatin accessibility saw relative declines, suggesting a maturation of foundational profiling in favor of highly specific functional intersections, particularly those linking tumor metabolism and immune evasion with epigenetic reprogramming.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Epigenetics and DNA Methylation Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/epigenetics-and-dna-methylation/2026. Accessed 2026-07-21.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
```