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Varma C, Luo E, Bostrom G, Bathini P, Berdnik D, Wyss-Coray T, Zhao T, Dong X, Ervin FR, Beierschmitt A, Palmour RM, Lemere CA. Plasma and CSF biomarkers of aging and cognitive decline in Caribbean vervets. Alzheimers Dement 2024. [PMID: 38946666 DOI: 10.1002/alz.14038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2024] [Revised: 05/08/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Vervets are non-human primates that share high genetic homology with humans and develop amyloid beta (Aβ) pathology with aging. We expand current knowledge by examining Aβ pathology, aging, cognition, and biomarker proteomics. METHODS Amyloid immunoreactivity in the frontal cortex and temporal cortex/hippocampal regions from archived vervet brain samples ranging from young adulthood to old age was quantified. We also obtained cognitive scores, plasma samples, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples in additional animals. Plasma and CSF proteins were quantified with platforms utilizing human antibodies. RESULTS We found age-related increases in Aβ deposition in both brain regions. Bioinformatic analyses assessed associations between biomarkers and age, sex, cognition, and CSF Aβ levels, revealing changes in proteins related to immune-related inflammation, metabolism, and cellular processes. DISCUSSION Vervets are an effective model of aging and early-stage Alzheimer's disease, and we provide translational biomarker data that both align with previous results in humans and provide a basis for future investigations. HIGHLIGHTS We found changes in immune and metabolic plasma biomarkers associated with age and cognition. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers revealed changes in cell signaling indicative of adaptative processes. TNFRSF19 (TROY) and Artemin co-localize with Alzheimer's disease pathology. Vervets are a relevant model for translational studies of early-stage Alzheimer's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Curran Varma
- Department of Neurology, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Eva Luo
- Department of Neurology, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Gustaf Bostrom
- Department of Neurology, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Geriatrics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Centre for Clinical Research, Uppsala University, Västmanland County Hospital, Västerås, Sweden
| | - Praveen Bathini
- Department of Neurology, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Daniela Berdnik
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Tony Wyss-Coray
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Tingting Zhao
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Xianjun Dong
- Department of Neurology, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Genomics and Bioinformatics Hub, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Frank R Ervin
- Behavioral Sciences Foundation, Saint Kitts, Eastern Caribbean, Montreal, Canada
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Amy Beierschmitt
- Behavioral Sciences Foundation, Saint Kitts, Eastern Caribbean, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, St Kitts, UK
| | - Roberta M Palmour
- Behavioral Sciences Foundation, Saint Kitts, Eastern Caribbean, Montreal, Canada
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Cynthia A Lemere
- Department of Neurology, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Epigenetic clock and methylation studies in vervet monkeys. GeroScience 2021; 44:699-717. [PMID: 34591235 PMCID: PMC9135907 DOI: 10.1007/s11357-021-00466-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Accepted: 09/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation-based biomarkers of aging have been developed for many mammals but not yet for the vervet monkey (Chlorocebus sabaeus), which is a valuable non-human primate model for biomedical studies. We generated novel DNA methylation data from vervet cerebral cortex, blood, and liver using highly conserved mammalian CpGs represented on a custom array (HorvathMammalMethylChip40). We present six DNA methylation-based estimators of age: vervet multi-tissue epigenetic clock and tissue-specific clocks for brain cortex, blood, and liver. In addition, we developed two dual species clocks (human-vervet clocks) for measuring chronological age and relative age, respectively. Relative age was defined as ratio of chronological age to maximum lifespan to address the species differences in maximum lifespan. The high accuracy of the human-vervet clocks demonstrates that epigenetic aging processes are evolutionary conserved in primates. When applying these vervet clocks to tissue samples from another primate species, rhesus macaque, we observed high age correlations but strong offsets. We characterized CpGs that correlate significantly with age in the vervet. CpG probes that gain methylation with age across tissues were located near the targets of Polycomb proteins SUZ12 and EED and genes possessing the trimethylated H3K27 mark in their promoters. The epigenetic clocks are expected to be useful for anti-aging studies in vervets.
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