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Marttila S, Rajić S, Ciantar J, Mak JKL, Junttila IS, Kummola L, Hägg S, Raitoharju E, Kananen L. Biological aging of different blood cell types. GeroScience 2024:10.1007/s11357-024-01287-w. [PMID: 39060678 DOI: 10.1007/s11357-024-01287-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2024] [Accepted: 07/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Biological age (BA) captures detrimental age-related changes. The best-known and most-used BA indicators include DNA methylation-based epigenetic clocks and telomere length (TL). The most common biological sample material for epidemiological aging studies, whole blood, is composed of different cell types. We aimed to compare differences in BAs between blood cell types and assessed the BA indicators' cell type-specific associations with chronological age (CA). An analysis of DNA methylation-based BA indicators, including TL, methylation level at cg16867657 in ELOVL2, as well as the Hannum, Horvath, DNAmPhenoAge, and DunedinPACE epigenetic clocks, was performed on 428 biological samples of 12 blood cell types. BA values were different in the majority of the pairwise comparisons between cell types, as well as in comparison to whole blood (p < 0.05). DNAmPhenoAge showed the largest cell type differences, up to 44.5 years and DNA methylation-based TL showed the lowest differences. T cells generally had the "youngest" BA values, with differences across subsets, whereas monocytes had the "oldest" values. All BA indicators, except DunedinPACE, strongly correlated with CA within a cell type. Some differences such as DNAmPhenoAge-difference between naïve CD4 + T cells and monocytes were constant regardless of the blood donor's CA (range 20-80 years), while for DunedinPACE they were not. In conclusion, DNA methylation-based indicators of BA exhibit cell type-specific characteristics. Our results have implications for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying epigenetic clocks and underscore the importance of considering cell composition when utilizing them as indicators for the success of aging interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saara Marttila
- Molecular Epidemiology (MOLE), Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
- Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
- Tays Research Services, Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
| | - Sonja Rajić
- Molecular Epidemiology (MOLE), Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Joanna Ciantar
- Molecular Epidemiology (MOLE), Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Jonathan K L Mak
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ilkka S Junttila
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Fimlab Laboratories, Tampere, Finland
- Northern Finland Laboratory Centre (NordLab), Oulu, Finland
- Research Unit of Biomedicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Laura Kummola
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Emma Raitoharju
- Molecular Epidemiology (MOLE), Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Tays Research Services, Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Laura Kananen
- Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Faculty of Social Sciences (Health Sciences), Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
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2
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Kular L. The lung-brain axis in multiple sclerosis: Mechanistic insights and future directions. Brain Behav Immun Health 2024; 38:100787. [PMID: 38737964 PMCID: PMC11087231 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2024.100787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 03/23/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system with progressive lifelong disability. Current treatments are particularly effective at the early inflammatory stage of the disease but associate with safety concerns such as increased risk of infection. While clinical and epidemiological evidence strongly support the role of a bidirectional communication between the lung and the brain in MS in influencing disease risk and severity, the exact processes underlying such relationship appear complex and not fully understood. This short review aims to summarize key findings and future perspectives that might provide new insights into the mechanisms underpinning the lung-brain axis in MS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Kular
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
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3
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Mak JKL, Skovgaard AC, Nygaard M, Kananen L, Reynolds CA, Wang Y, Kuja‐Halkola R, Karlsson IK, Pedersen NL, Hägg S, Soerensen M, Jylhävä J. Epigenome-wide analysis of frailty: Results from two European twin cohorts. Aging Cell 2024; 23:e14135. [PMID: 38414347 PMCID: PMC11166364 DOI: 10.1111/acel.14135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 02/11/2024] [Accepted: 02/17/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Epigenetics plays an important role in the aging process, but it is unclear whether epigenetic factors also influence frailty, an age-related state of physiological decline. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies in four samples drawn from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA) and the Longitudinal Study of Aging Danish Twins (LSADT) to explore the association between DNA methylation and frailty. Frailty was defined using the frailty index (FI), and DNA methylation levels were measured in whole blood using Illumina's Infinium HumanMethylation450K and MethylationEPIC arrays. In the meta-analysis consisting of a total of 829 participants, we identified 589 CpG sites that were statistically significantly associated with either the continuous or categorical FI (false discovery rate <0.05). Many of these CpGs have previously been associated with age and age-related diseases. The identified sites were also largely directionally consistent in a longitudinal analysis using mixed-effects models in SATSA, where the participants were followed up to a maximum of 20 years. Moreover, we identified three differentially methylated regions within the MGRN1, MIR596, and TAPBP genes that have been linked to neuronal aging, tumor growth, and immune functions. Furthermore, our meta-analysis results replicated 34 of the 77 previously reported frailty-associated CpGs at p < 0.05. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate robust associations between frailty and DNA methylation levels in 589 novel CpGs, previously unidentified for frailty, and strengthen the role of neuronal/brain pathways in frailty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan K. L. Mak
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of MedicineThe University of Hong KongHong KongChina
| | - Asmus Cosmos Skovgaard
- The Danish Twin Registry and Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Department of Public HealthUniversity of Southern DenmarkOdense MDenmark
| | - Marianne Nygaard
- The Danish Twin Registry and Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Department of Public HealthUniversity of Southern DenmarkOdense MDenmark
| | - Laura Kananen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
- Faculty of Social Sciences (Health Sciences) and Gerontology Research Center (GEREC)University of TampereTampereFinland
| | - Chandra A. Reynolds
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of ColoradoBoulderColoradoUSA
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of CaliforniaRiversideCaliforniaUSA
| | - Yunzhang Wang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Danderyd HospitalKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
| | - Ralf Kuja‐Halkola
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
| | - Ida K. Karlsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
| | - Nancy L. Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
| | - Mette Soerensen
- The Danish Twin Registry and Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Department of Public HealthUniversity of Southern DenmarkOdense MDenmark
- Department of Clinical GeneticsOdense University HospitalOdense CDenmark
| | - Juulia Jylhävä
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
- Faculty of Social Sciences (Health Sciences) and Gerontology Research Center (GEREC)University of TampereTampereFinland
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Karetnikov DI, Romanov SE, Baklaushev VP, Laktionov PP. Age Prediction Using DNA Methylation Heterogeneity Metrics. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:4967. [PMID: 38732187 PMCID: PMC11084170 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25094967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2024] [Revised: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Dynamic changes in genomic DNA methylation patterns govern the epigenetic developmental programs and accompany the organism's aging. Epigenetic clock (eAge) algorithms utilize DNA methylation to estimate the age and risk factors for diseases as well as analyze the impact of various interventions. High-throughput bisulfite sequencing methods, such as reduced-representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) or whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS), provide an opportunity to identify the genomic regions of disordered or heterogeneous DNA methylation, which might be associated with cell-type heterogeneity, DNA methylation erosion, and allele-specific methylation. We systematically evaluated the applicability of five scores assessing the variability of methylation patterns by evaluating within-sample heterogeneity (WSH) to construct human blood epigenetic clock models using RRBS data. The best performance was demonstrated by the model based on a metric designed to assess DNA methylation erosion with an MAE of 3.686 years. We also trained a prediction model that uses the average methylation level over genomic regions. Although this region-based model was relatively more efficient than the WSH-based model, the latter required the analysis of just a few short genomic regions and, therefore, could be a useful tool to design a reduced epigenetic clock that is analyzed by targeted next-generation sequencing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dmitry I. Karetnikov
- Federal Research Center Institute of Cytology and Genetics SB RAS, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Stanislav E. Romanov
- Epigenetics Laboratory, Department of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk State University, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Vladimir P. Baklaushev
- Federal Center for Brain and Neurotechnologies, Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia, 117513 Moscow, Russia
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia
- Department of Medical Nanobiotechnology, Medical and Biological Faculty, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Petr P. Laktionov
- Epigenetics Laboratory, Department of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk State University, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
- Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
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Wang K, Sartor MA, Colacino JA, Dolinoy DC, Svoboda LK. Sex-Specific Deflection of Age-Related DNA Methylation and Gene Expression in Mouse Heart by Perinatal Toxicant Exposures. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.25.591125. [PMID: 38712146 PMCID: PMC11071472 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.25.591125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Background Global and site-specific changes in DNA methylation and gene expression are associated with cardiovascular aging and disease, but how toxicant exposures during early development influence the normal trajectory of these age-related molecular changes, and whether there are sex differences, has not yet been investigated. Objectives We used an established mouse model of developmental exposures to investigate the effects of perinatal exposure to either lead (Pb) or diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), two ubiquitous environmental contaminants strongly associated with CVD, on age-related cardiac DNA methylation and gene expression. Methods Dams were randomly assigned to receive human physiologically relevant levels of Pb (32 ppm in water), DEHP (25 mg/kg chow), or control water and chow. Exposures started two weeks prior to mating and continued until weaning at postnatal day 21 (3 weeks of age). Approximately one male and one female offspring per litter were followed to 3 weeks, 5 months, or 10 months of age, at which time whole hearts were collected (n ≥ 5 per sex per exposure). Enhanced reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (ERRBS) was used to assess the cardiac DNA methylome at 3 weeks and 10 months, and RNA-seq was conducted at all 3 time points. MethylSig and edgeR were used to identify age-related differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs), respectively, within each sex and exposure group. Cell type deconvolution of bulk RNA-seq data was conducted using the MuSiC algorithm and publicly available single cell RNA-seq data. Results Thousands of DMRs and hundreds of DEGs were identified in control, DEHP, and Pb-exposed hearts across time between 3 weeks and 10 months of age. A closer look at the genes and pathways showing differential DNA methylation revealed that the majority were unique to each sex and exposure group. Overall, pathways governing development and differentiation were most frequently altered with age in all conditions. A small number of genes in each group showed significant changes in DNA methylation and gene expression with age, including several that were altered by both toxicants but were unchanged in control. We also observed subtle, but significant changes in the proportion of several cell types due to age, sex, and developmental exposure. Discussion Together these data show that perinatal Pb or DEHP exposures deflect normal age-related gene expression, DNA methylation programs, and cellular composition across the life course, long after cessation of exposure, and highlight potential biomarkers of developmental toxicant exposures. Further studies are needed to investigate how these epigenetic and transcriptional changes impact cardiovascular health across the life course.
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Zhang Z, Reynolds SR, Stolrow HG, Chen J, Christensen BC, Salas LA. Deciphering the role of immune cell composition in epigenetic age acceleration: Insights from cell-type deconvolution applied to human blood epigenetic clocks. Aging Cell 2024; 23:e14071. [PMID: 38146185 PMCID: PMC10928575 DOI: 10.1111/acel.14071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Aging is a significant risk factor for various human disorders, and DNA methylation clocks have emerged as powerful tools for estimating biological age and predicting health-related outcomes. Methylation data from blood DNA has been a focus of more recently developed DNA methylation clocks. However, the impact of immune cell composition on epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) remains unclear as only some clocks incorporate partial cell type composition information when analyzing EAA. We investigated associations of 12 immune cell types measured by cell-type deconvolution with EAA predicted by six widely-used DNA methylation clocks in data from >10,000 blood samples. We observed significant associations of immune cell composition with EAA for all six clocks tested. Across the clocks, nine or more of the 12 cell types tested exhibited significant associations with EAA. Higher memory lymphocyte subtype proportions were associated with increased EAA, and naïve lymphocyte subtypes were associated with decreased EAA. To demonstrate the potential confounding of EAA by immune cell composition, we applied EAA in rheumatoid arthritis. Our research maps immune cell type contributions to EAA in human blood and offers opportunities to adjust for immune cell composition in EAA studies to a significantly more granular level. Understanding associations of EAA with immune profiles has implications for the interpretation of epigenetic age and its relevance in aging and disease research. Our detailed map of immune cell type contributions serves as a resource for studies utilizing epigenetic clocks across diverse research fields, including aging-related diseases, precision medicine, and therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ze Zhang
- Department of EpidemiologyGeisel School of Medicine at DartmouthLebanonNew HampshireUSA
- Dartmouth Cancer CenterDartmouth‐Hitchcock Medical CenterLebanonNew HampshireUSA
- Quantitative Biomedical Sciences ProgramGuarini School of Graduate and Advanced StudiesHanoverNew HampshireUSA
| | - Samuel R. Reynolds
- Department of EpidemiologyGeisel School of Medicine at DartmouthLebanonNew HampshireUSA
| | - Hannah G. Stolrow
- Department of EpidemiologyGeisel School of Medicine at DartmouthLebanonNew HampshireUSA
- Dartmouth Cancer CenterDartmouth‐Hitchcock Medical CenterLebanonNew HampshireUSA
| | - Ji‐Qing Chen
- Department of EpidemiologyGeisel School of Medicine at DartmouthLebanonNew HampshireUSA
- Molecular and Cellular Biology ProgramGuarini School of Graduate and Advanced StudiesHanoverNew HampshireUSA
| | - Brock C. Christensen
- Department of EpidemiologyGeisel School of Medicine at DartmouthLebanonNew HampshireUSA
- Dartmouth Cancer CenterDartmouth‐Hitchcock Medical CenterLebanonNew HampshireUSA
- Quantitative Biomedical Sciences ProgramGuarini School of Graduate and Advanced StudiesHanoverNew HampshireUSA
- Molecular and Cellular Biology ProgramGuarini School of Graduate and Advanced StudiesHanoverNew HampshireUSA
| | - Lucas A. Salas
- Department of EpidemiologyGeisel School of Medicine at DartmouthLebanonNew HampshireUSA
- Dartmouth Cancer CenterDartmouth‐Hitchcock Medical CenterLebanonNew HampshireUSA
- Quantitative Biomedical Sciences ProgramGuarini School of Graduate and Advanced StudiesHanoverNew HampshireUSA
- Molecular and Cellular Biology ProgramGuarini School of Graduate and Advanced StudiesHanoverNew HampshireUSA
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Garrett ME, Dennis MF, Bourassa KJ, Hauser MA, Kimbrel NA, Beckham JC, Ashley-Koch AE. Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of cannabis use disorder in a veteran cohort enriched for posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychiatry Res 2024; 333:115757. [PMID: 38309009 PMCID: PMC10922626 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.115757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
Cannabis use has been increasing over the past decade, not only in the general US population, but particularly among military veterans. With this rise in use has come a concomitant increase in cannabis use disorder (CUD) among veterans. Here, we performed an epigenome-wide association study for lifetime CUD in an Iraq/Afghanistan era veteran cohort enriched for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) comprising 2,310 total subjects (1,109 non-Hispanic black and 1,201 non-Hispanic white). We also investigated CUD interactions with current PTSD status and examined potential indirect effects of DNA methylation (DNAm) on the relationship between CUD and psychiatric diagnoses. Four CpGs were associated with lifetime CUD, even after controlling for the effects of current smoking (AHRR cg05575921, LINC00299 cg23079012, VWA7 cg22112841, and FAM70A cg08760398). Importantly, cg05575921, a CpG strongly linked to smoking, remained associated with lifetime CUD even when restricting the analysis to veterans who reported never smoking cigarettes. Moreover, CUD interacted with current PTSD to affect cg05575921 and cg23079012 such that those with both CUD and PTSD displayed significantly lower DNAm compared to the other groups. Finally, we provide preliminary evidence that AHRR cg05575921 helps explain the association between CUD and any psychiatric diagnoses, specifically mood disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie E Garrett
- Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, Duke University Medical Center, 300N Duke St, Durham, NC 27701, USA
| | - Michelle F Dennis
- Durham Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System, Durham, NC, USA; VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Kyle J Bourassa
- Durham Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System, Durham, NC, USA; VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Michael A Hauser
- Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, Duke University Medical Center, 300N Duke St, Durham, NC 27701, USA
| | - Nathan A Kimbrel
- Durham Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System, Durham, NC, USA; VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Jean C Beckham
- Durham Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System, Durham, NC, USA; VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Allison E Ashley-Koch
- Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, Duke University Medical Center, 300N Duke St, Durham, NC 27701, USA.
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Refn MR, Andersen MM, Kampmann ML, Tfelt-Hansen J, Sørensen E, Larsen MH, Morling N, Børsting C, Pereira V. Longitudinal changes and variation in human DNA methylation analysed with the Illumina MethylationEPIC BeadChip assay and their implications on forensic age prediction. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21658. [PMID: 38066081 PMCID: PMC10709620 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49064-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation, a pivotal epigenetic modification, plays a crucial role in regulating gene expression and is known to undergo dynamic changes with age. The present study investigated epigenome-wide methylation profiles in 64 individuals over two time points, 15 years apart, using the Illumina EPIC850k arrays. A mixed-effects model identified 2821 age-associated differentially methylated CpG positions (aDMPs) with a median rate of change of 0.18% per year, consistent with a 10-15% change during a human lifespan. Significant variation in the baseline DNA methylation levels between individuals of similar ages as well as inconsistent direction of change with time across individuals were observed for all the aDMPs. Twenty-three of the 2821 aDMPs were previously incorporated into forensic age prediction models. These markers displayed larger changes in DNA methylation with age compared to all the aDMPs and less variation among individuals. Nevertheless, the forensic aDMPs also showed inter-individual variations in the direction of DNA methylation changes. Only cg16867657 in ELOVL2 exhibited a uniform direction of the age-related change among the investigated individuals, which supports the current knowledge that CpG sites in ELOVL2 are the best markers for age prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mie Rath Refn
- Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark.
| | - Mikkel Meyer Andersen
- Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
- The Department of Mathematical Sciences, Aalborg University, 9220, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Marie-Louise Kampmann
- Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jacob Tfelt-Hansen
- Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
- The Department of Cardiology, The Heart Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Erik Sørensen
- Department of Clinical Immunology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Margit Hørup Larsen
- Department of Clinical Immunology, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Niels Morling
- Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Claus Børsting
- Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Vania Pereira
- Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Karlsson IK, Ploner A, Wang Y, Gatz M, Pedersen NL, Hägg S. Leukocyte DNA methylation in Alzheimer´s disease associated genes: replication of findings from neuronal cells. Epigenetics 2023; 18:2158285. [PMID: 36573011 PMCID: PMC9980709 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2022.2158285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Differences in gene-wide DNA methylation of the Alzheimer's disease (AD)-associated genes BIN1, HLA-DRB5, SORL1, SLC24A4, and ABCA7 are reported to be associated with AD in post-mortem brain samples. We investigated whether the same associations could be found in leukocytes collected pre-mortem. Using cohort data of 544 Swedish twins (204 dementia diagnoses), we replicated the findings in HLA-DRB5 and SLC24A4 at P < 0.05. However, co-twin control analyses indicated that the associations were partly explained by familial confounding. Thus, DNA methylation differences in HLA-DRB5 and SLC24A4 are present in both neuronal cells and leukocytes, and not fully explained familial factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ida K Karlsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Alexander Ploner
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Yunzhang Wang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Margaret Gatz
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nancy L Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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10
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McMurran CE, Wang Y, Mak JKL, Karlsson IK, Tang B, Ploner A, Pedersen NL, Hägg S. Advanced biological ageing predicts future risk for neurological diagnoses and clinical examination findings. Brain 2023; 146:4891-4902. [PMID: 37490842 PMCID: PMC10690013 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Age is a dominant risk factor for some of the most common neurological diseases. Biological ageing encompasses interindividual variation in the rate of ageing and can be calculated from clinical biomarkers or DNA methylation data amongst other approaches. Here, we tested the hypothesis that a biological age greater than one's chronological age affects the risk of future neurological diagnosis and the development of abnormal signs on clinical examination. We analysed data from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA): a cohort with 3175 assessments of 802 individuals followed-up over several decades. Six measures of biological ageing were generated: two physiological ages (created from bedside clinical measurements and standard blood tests) and four blood methylation age measures. Their effects on future stroke, dementia or Parkinson's disease diagnosis, or development of abnormal clinical signs, were determined using survival analysis, with and without stratification by twin pairs. Older physiological ages were associated with ischaemic stroke risk; for example one standard deviation advancement in baseline PhenoAgePhys or KDMAgePhys residual increased future ischaemic stroke risk by 29.2% [hazard ratio (HR): 1.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-1.58, P = 0.012] and 42.9% (HR 1.43, CI 1.18-1.73, P = 3.1 × 10-4), respectively. In contrast, older methylation ages were more predictive of future dementia risk, which was increased by 29.7% (HR 1.30, CI 1.07-1.57, P = 0.007) per standard deviation advancement in HorvathAgeMeth. Older physiological ages were also positively associated with future development of abnormal patellar or pupillary reflexes, and the loss of normal gait. Measures of biological ageing can predict clinically relevant pathology of the nervous system independent of chronological age. This may help to explain variability in disease risk between individuals of the same age and strengthens the case for trials of geroprotective interventions for people with neurological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher E McMurran
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE 171 77, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Yunzhang Wang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE 171 77, Sweden
| | - Jonathan K L Mak
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE 171 77, Sweden
| | - Ida K Karlsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE 171 77, Sweden
| | - Bowen Tang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE 171 77, Sweden
| | - Alexander Ploner
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE 171 77, Sweden
| | - Nancy L Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE 171 77, Sweden
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE 171 77, Sweden
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11
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Yaskolka Meir A, Keller M, Hoffmann A, Rinott E, Tsaban G, Kaplan A, Zelicha H, Hagemann T, Ceglarek U, Isermann B, Shelef I, Blüher M, Stumvoll M, Li J, Haange SB, Engelmann B, Rolle-Kampczyk U, von Bergen M, Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Kovacs P, Liang L, Shai I. The effect of polyphenols on DNA methylation-assessed biological age attenuation: the DIRECT PLUS randomized controlled trial. BMC Med 2023; 21:364. [PMID: 37743489 PMCID: PMC10519069 DOI: 10.1186/s12916-023-03067-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epigenetic age is an estimator of biological age based on DNA methylation; its discrepancy from chronologic age warrants further investigation. We recently reported that greater polyphenol intake benefitted ectopic fats, brain function, and gut microbiota profile, corresponding with elevated urine polyphenols. The effect of polyphenol-rich dietary interventions on biological aging is yet to be determined. METHODS We calculated different biological aging epigenetic clocks of different generations (Horvath2013, Hannum2013, Li2018, Horvath skin and blood2018, PhenoAge2018, PCGrimAge2022), their corresponding age and intrinsic age accelerations, and DunedinPACE, all based on DNA methylation (Illumina EPIC array; pre-specified secondary outcome) for 256 participants with abdominal obesity or dyslipidemia, before and after the 18-month DIRECT PLUS randomized controlled trial. Three interventions were assigned: healthy dietary guidelines, a Mediterranean (MED) diet, and a polyphenol-rich, low-red/processed meat Green-MED diet. Both MED groups consumed 28 g walnuts/day (+ 440 mg/day polyphenols). The Green-MED group consumed green tea (3-4 cups/day) and Mankai (Wolffia globosa strain) 500-ml green shake (+ 800 mg/day polyphenols). Adherence to the Green-MED diet was assessed by questionnaire and urine polyphenols metabolomics (high-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time of flight). RESULTS Baseline chronological age (51.3 ± 10.6 years) was significantly correlated with all methylation age (mAge) clocks with correlations ranging from 0.83 to 0.95; p < 2.2e - 16 for all. While all interventions did not differ in terms of changes between mAge clocks, greater Green-Med diet adherence was associated with a lower 18-month relative change (i.e., greater mAge attenuation) in Li and Hannum mAge (beta = - 0.41, p = 0.004 and beta = - 0.38, p = 0.03, respectively; multivariate models). Greater Li mAge attenuation (multivariate models adjusted for age, sex, baseline mAge, and weight loss) was mostly affected by higher intake of Mankai (beta = - 1.8; p = 0.061) and green tea (beta = - 1.57; p = 0.0016) and corresponded with elevated urine polyphenols: hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, and urolithin C (p < 0.05 for all) and urolithin A (p = 0.08), highly common in green plants. Overall, participants undergoing either MED-style diet had ~ 8.9 months favorable difference between the observed and expected Li mAge at the end of the intervention (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS This study showed that MED and green-MED diets with increased polyphenols intake, such as green tea and Mankai, are inversely associated with biological aging. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first clinical trial to indicate a potential link between polyphenol intake, urine polyphenols, and biological aging. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03020186.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anat Yaskolka Meir
- The Health & Nutrition Innovative International Research Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 8410501, Be'er Sheva, Israel
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Maria Keller
- Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG) of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Leipzig and University Hospital Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Medical Department III - Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, University of Leipzig, Liebigstrasse 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Anne Hoffmann
- Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG) of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Leipzig and University Hospital Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ehud Rinott
- The Health & Nutrition Innovative International Research Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 8410501, Be'er Sheva, Israel
| | - Gal Tsaban
- The Health & Nutrition Innovative International Research Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 8410501, Be'er Sheva, Israel
- Soroka University Medical Center, 84101, Be'er Sheva, Israel
| | - Alon Kaplan
- The Health & Nutrition Innovative International Research Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 8410501, Be'er Sheva, Israel
| | - Hila Zelicha
- The Health & Nutrition Innovative International Research Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 8410501, Be'er Sheva, Israel
| | - Tobias Hagemann
- Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG) of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Leipzig and University Hospital Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Uta Ceglarek
- Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Chemistry, and Molecular Diagnostics, University of Leipzig Medical Center, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Berend Isermann
- Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Chemistry, and Molecular Diagnostics, University of Leipzig Medical Center, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ilan Shelef
- Soroka University Medical Center, 84101, Be'er Sheva, Israel
| | - Matthias Blüher
- Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG) of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Leipzig and University Hospital Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Medical Department III - Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, University of Leipzig, Liebigstrasse 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael Stumvoll
- Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG) of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Leipzig and University Hospital Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Medical Department III - Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, University of Leipzig, Liebigstrasse 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jun Li
- Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Sven-Bastian Haange
- Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, 04318, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beatrice Engelmann
- Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, 04318, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ulrike Rolle-Kampczyk
- Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, 04318, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Martin von Bergen
- Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH, 04318, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Frank B Hu
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Meir J Stampfer
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Peter Kovacs
- Medical Department III - Endocrinology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, University of Leipzig Medical Center, University of Leipzig, Liebigstrasse 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Liming Liang
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
| | - Iris Shai
- The Health & Nutrition Innovative International Research Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 8410501, Be'er Sheva, Israel.
- Helmholtz Institute for Metabolic, Obesity and Vascular Research (HI-MAG) of the Helmholtz Center Munich at the University of Leipzig and University Hospital Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
- Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
- Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, 04103, Germany.
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12
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Sommer AJ, Okonkwo J, Monteiro J, Bind MAC. A permutation-based approach using a rank-based statistic to identify sex differences in epigenetics. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14838. [PMID: 37684282 PMCID: PMC10491832 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41360-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic sex differences and their resulting implications for human health have been studied for about a decade. The objective of this paper is to use permutation-based inference and a new ranked-based test statistic to identify sex-based epigenetic differences in the human DNA methylome. In particular, we examine whether we could identify separations between the female and male distributions of DNA methylation across hundred of thousands CpG sites in two independent cohorts, the Swedish Adoption Twin study and the Lamarck study. Based on Fisherian p-values, we set a threshold for methylation differences "worth further scrutiny". At this threshold, we were able to confirm previously-found CpG sites that stratify with respect to sex. These CpG sites with sex differences in DNA methylation should be further investigated for their possible contribution to various physiological and pathological functions in the human body. We followed-up our statistical analyses with a literature review in order to inform the proposed disease implications for the loci we uncovered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice J Sommer
- Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry, and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University München, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Jude Okonkwo
- Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jonathan Monteiro
- Department of Biostatistics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marie-Abèle C Bind
- Department of Biostatistics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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13
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Milicic L, Porter T, Vacher M, Laws SM. Utility of DNA Methylation as a Biomarker in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease. J Alzheimers Dis Rep 2023; 7:475-503. [PMID: 37313495 PMCID: PMC10259073 DOI: 10.3233/adr-220109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation have been implicated in a number of diseases including cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. While it is recognized that DNA methylation is tissue-specific, a limitation for many studies is the ability to sample the tissue of interest, which is why there is a need for a proxy tissue such as blood, that is reflective of the methylation state of the target tissue. In the last decade, DNA methylation has been utilized in the design of epigenetic clocks, which aim to predict an individual's biological age based on an algorithmically defined set of CpGs. A number of studies have found associations between disease and/or disease risk with increased biological age, adding weight to the theory of increased biological age being linked with disease processes. Hence, this review takes a closer look at the utility of DNA methylation as a biomarker in aging and disease, with a particular focus on Alzheimer's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lidija Milicic
- Centre for Precision Health, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- Collaborative Genomics and Translation Group, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Tenielle Porter
- Centre for Precision Health, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- Collaborative Genomics and Translation Group, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- Curtin Medical School, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Michael Vacher
- Centre for Precision Health, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Australian e-Health Research Centre, Floreat, Western Australia
| | - Simon M. Laws
- Centre for Precision Health, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- Collaborative Genomics and Translation Group, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia
- Curtin Medical School, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia
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14
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Zhao J, Huai J. Role of primary aging hallmarks in Alzheimer´s disease. Theranostics 2023; 13:197-230. [PMID: 36593969 PMCID: PMC9800733 DOI: 10.7150/thno.79535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, which severely threatens the health of the elderly and causes significant economic and social burdens. The causes of AD are complex and include heritable but mostly aging-related factors. The primary aging hallmarks include genomic instability, telomere wear, epigenetic changes, and loss of protein stability, which play a dominant role in the aging process. Although AD is closely associated with the aging process, the underlying mechanisms involved in AD pathogenesis have not been well characterized. This review summarizes the available literature about primary aging hallmarks and their roles in AD pathogenesis. By analyzing published literature, we attempted to uncover the possible mechanisms of aberrant epigenetic markers with related enzymes, transcription factors, and loss of proteostasis in AD. In particular, the importance of oxidative stress-induced DNA methylation and DNA methylation-directed histone modifications and proteostasis are highlighted. A molecular network of gene regulatory elements that undergoes a dynamic change with age may underlie age-dependent AD pathogenesis, and can be used as a new drug target to treat AD.
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15
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A multi-omics longitudinal aging dataset in primary human fibroblasts with mitochondrial perturbations. Sci Data 2022; 9:751. [PMID: 36463290 PMCID: PMC9719499 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01852-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Aging is a process of progressive change. To develop biological models of aging, longitudinal datasets with high temporal resolution are needed. Here we report a multi-omics longitudinal dataset for cultured primary human fibroblasts measured across their replicative lifespans. Fibroblasts were sourced from both healthy donors (n = 6) and individuals with lifespan-shortening mitochondrial disease (n = 3). The dataset includes cytological, bioenergetic, DNA methylation, gene expression, secreted proteins, mitochondrial DNA copy number and mutations, cell-free DNA, telomere length, and whole-genome sequencing data. This dataset enables the bridging of mechanistic processes of aging as outlined by the "hallmarks of aging", with the descriptive characterization of aging such as epigenetic age clocks. Here we focus on bridging the gap for the hallmark mitochondrial metabolism. Our dataset includes measurement of healthy cells, and cells subjected to over a dozen experimental manipulations targeting oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos), glycolysis, and glucocorticoid signaling, among others. These experiments provide opportunities to test how cellular energetics affect the biology of cellular aging. All data are publicly available at our webtool: https://columbia-picard.shinyapps.io/shinyapp-Lifespan_Study/.
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16
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de Lima Camillo LP, Lapierre LR, Singh R. A pan-tissue DNA-methylation epigenetic clock based on deep learning. NPJ AGING 2022. [PMCID: PMC9158789 DOI: 10.1038/s41514-022-00085-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
AbstractSeveral age predictors based on DNA methylation, dubbed epigenetic clocks, have been created in recent years, with the vast majority based on regularized linear regression. This study explores the improvement in the performance and interpretation of epigenetic clocks using deep learning. First, we gathered 142 publicly available data sets from several human tissues to develop AltumAge, a neural network framework that is a highly accurate and precise age predictor. Compared to ElasticNet, AltumAge performs better for within-data set and cross-data set age prediction, being particularly more generalizable in older ages and new tissue types. We then used deep learning interpretation methods to learn which methylation sites contributed to the final model predictions. We observe that while most important CpG sites are linearly related to age, some highly-interacting CpG sites can influence the relevance of such relationships. Using chromatin annotations, we show that the CpG sites with the highest contribution to the model predictions were related to gene regulatory regions in the genome, including proximity to CTCF binding sites. We also found age-related KEGG pathways for genes containing these CpG sites. Lastly, we performed downstream analyses of AltumAge to explore its applicability and compare its age acceleration with Horvath’s 2013 model. We show that our neural network approach predicts higher age acceleration for tumors, for cells that exhibit age-related changes in vitro, such as immune and mitochondrial dysfunction, and for samples from patients with multiple sclerosis, type 2 diabetes, and HIV, among other conditions. Altogether, our neural network approach provides significant improvement and flexibility compared to current epigenetic clocks for both performance and model interpretability.
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17
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Qin X, Wang Y, Pedersen NL, Tang B, Hägg S. Dynamic patterns of blood lipids and DNA methylation in response to statin therapy. Clin Epigenetics 2022; 14:153. [PMID: 36443870 PMCID: PMC9706978 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-022-01375-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Statins are lipid-lowering drugs and starting treatment has been associated with DNA methylation changes at genes related to lipid metabolism. However, the longitudinal pattern of how statins affect DNA methylation in relation to lipid levels has not been well investigated. METHODS We conducted an epigenetic association study in a longitudinal Swedish twin sample in previously reported lipid-related CpGs (cg10177197, cg17901584 and cg27243685). First, we applied a mixed-effect model to assess the association between blood lipids (total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), total triglyceride (TG)) and DNA methylation. Then, we performed a piecewise latent linear-linear growth curve model (LGCM) to explore the long-term changing pattern of lipids and methylation in response to statin treatment. Finally, we used a bivariate autoregressive latent trajectory model with structured residuals (ALT-SR) to analyze the cross-lagged effects in different lipid-CpG pairs in statin users and non-users. RESULTS We replicated the associations between TC, LDL, HDL and DNA methylation level in cg17901584 and cg27243685 (P values ranged from 4.70E-12 to 1.84E-04). From the piecewise LGCM, we showed that TC and LDL significantly decreased in statin users before treatment started and then remained stable. For non-statin users, we only found a slightly significant decreasing trend for TC and TG. We observed a similar dynamic pattern for methylation levels at cg27243685 and cg17901584. Before statin initiation, cg27243685 showed a significantly increasing trend and cg17901584 a decreasing trend, but post-treatment, there were no additional changes. From the ALT-SR model, we found TG levels to be significantly associated with the DNA methylation level of cg27243685 at the next measurement in statin users (estimate = 0.383, 95% CI: 0.173, 0.594, P value < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Longitudinal blood lipid and DNA methylation levels change after statin treatment initiation, where the latter is mostly a response to alterations in lipid levels and not vice versa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueying Qin
- grid.11135.370000 0001 2256 9319Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, 38# Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191 China ,grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels Väg 12A, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Yunzhang Wang
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels Väg 12A, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Nancy L. Pedersen
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels Väg 12A, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Bowen Tang
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels Väg 12A, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sara Hägg
- grid.4714.60000 0004 1937 0626Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels Väg 12A, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
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18
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Li A, Koch Z, Ideker T. Epigenetic aging: Biological age prediction and informing a mechanistic theory of aging. J Intern Med 2022; 292:733-744. [PMID: 35726002 DOI: 10.1111/joim.13533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown that epigenetic age-an individual's degree of aging based on patterns of DNA methylation-can be computed and is associated with an array of factors including diet, lifestyle, genetics, and disease. One can expect that still further associations will emerge with additional aging research, but to what end? Prediction of age was an important first step, but-in our view-the focus must shift from chasing increasingly accurate age computations to understanding the links between the epigenome and the mechanisms and physiological changes of aging. Here, we outline emerging areas of epigenetic aging research that prioritize biological understanding and clinical application. First, we survey recent progress in epigenetic clocks, which are beginning to predict not only chronological age but aging outcomes such as all-cause mortality and onset of disease, or which integrate aging signals across multiple biological processes. Second, we discuss research that exemplifies how investigation of the epigenome is building a mechanistic theory of aging and informing clinical practice. Such examples include identifying methylation sites and the genes most strongly predictive of aging-a subset of which have shown strong potential as biomarkers of neurodegenerative disease and cancer; relating epigenetic clock predictions to hallmarks of aging; and using longitudinal studies of DNA methylation to characterize human disease, resulting in the discovery of epigenetic indications of type 1 diabetes and the propensity for psychotic experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Li
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Zane Koch
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Trey Ideker
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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19
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Ambroa-Conde A, Girón-Santamaría L, Mosquera-Miguel A, Phillips C, Casares de Cal M, Gómez-Tato A, Álvarez-Dios J, de la Puente M, Ruiz-Ramírez J, Lareu M, Freire-Aradas A. Epigenetic age estimation in saliva and in buccal cells. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2022; 61:102770. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2022.102770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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20
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The immune factors driving DNA methylation variation in human blood. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5895. [PMID: 36202838 PMCID: PMC9537159 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33511-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic changes are required for normal development, yet the nature and respective contribution of factors that drive epigenetic variation in humans remain to be fully characterized. Here, we assessed how the blood DNA methylome of 884 adults is affected by DNA sequence variation, age, sex and 139 factors relating to life habits and immunity. Furthermore, we investigated whether these effects are mediated or not by changes in cellular composition, measured by deep immunophenotyping. We show that DNA methylation differs substantially between naïve and memory T cells, supporting the need for adjustment on these cell-types. By doing so, we find that latent cytomegalovirus infection drives DNA methylation variation and provide further support that the increased dispersion of DNA methylation with aging is due to epigenetic drift. Finally, our results indicate that cellular composition and DNA sequence variation are the strongest predictors of DNA methylation, highlighting critical factors for medical epigenomics studies.
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21
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Marttila S, Tamminen H, Rajić S, Mishra PP, Lehtimäki T, Raitakari O, Kähönen M, Kananen L, Jylhävä J, Hägg S, Delerue T, Peters A, Waldenberger M, Kleber ME, März W, Luoto R, Raitanen J, Sillanpää E, Laakkonen EK, Heikkinen A, Ollikainen M, Raitoharju E. Methylation status of VTRNA2-1/ nc886 is stable across populations, monozygotic twin pairs and in majority of tissues. Epigenomics 2022; 14:1105-1124. [PMID: 36200237 DOI: 10.2217/epi-2022-0228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Aims & methods: The aim of this study was to characterize the methylation level of a polymorphically imprinted gene, VTRNA2-1/nc886, in human populations and somatic tissues.48 datasets, consisting of more than 30 tissues and >30,000 individuals, were used. Results: nc886 methylation status is associated with twin status and ethnic background, but the variation between populations is limited. Monozygotic twin pairs present concordant methylation, whereas ∼30% of dizygotic twin pairs present discordant methylation in the nc886 locus. The methylation levels of nc886 are uniform across somatic tissues, except in cerebellum and skeletal muscle. Conclusion: The nc886 imprint may be established in the oocyte, and, after implantation, the methylation status is stable, excluding a few specific tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saara Marttila
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Tampere, 33014, Finland
| | - Hely Tamminen
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Sonja Rajić
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Pashupati P Mishra
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center Tampere, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Fimlab Laboratories, Arvo Ylpön katu 4, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Terho Lehtimäki
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center Tampere, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Fimlab Laboratories, Arvo Ylpön katu 4, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Olli Raitakari
- Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku & Turku University Hospital, Turku, 20014, Finland.,Research Centre of Applied & Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, 20014, Finland.,Department of Clinical Physiology & Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, 20014, Finland
| | - Mika Kähönen
- Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center Tampere, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Department of Clinical Physiology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, 33521, Finland
| | - Laura Kananen
- Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, & Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520,Finland.,Department of Medical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 77, Sweden.,Faculty of Social Sciences (Health Sciences), & Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Juulia Jylhävä
- Department of Medical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 77, Sweden.,Faculty of Social Sciences (Health Sciences), & Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 77, Sweden
| | - Thomas Delerue
- Research Unit Molecular Epidemiology, Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Bavaria, D-85764,, Germany
| | - Annette Peters
- Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Bavaria, D-85764, Germany.,German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner Site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
| | - Melanie Waldenberger
- Research Unit Molecular Epidemiology, Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Bavaria, D-85764,, Germany.,German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner Site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
| | - Marcus E Kleber
- Vth Department of Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, 68167, Germany.,SYNLAB MVZ Humangenetik Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Winfried März
- Vth Department of Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, 68167, Germany.,Competence Cluster for Nutrition & Cardiovascular Health (nutriCARD) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Jena, 07743, Germany.,SYNLAB Academy, SYNLAB Holding Deutschland GmbH, Augsburg, 86156, Germany.,Clinical Institute of Medical & Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, 8010, Austria
| | - Riitta Luoto
- The Social Insurance Institute of Finland (Kela), Helsinki, 00250, Finland.,The UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, Tampere, 33500, Finland
| | - Jani Raitanen
- The UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, Tampere, 33500, Finland.,Faculty of Social Sciences (Health Sciences), Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Elina Sillanpää
- Gerontology Research Center & Faculty of Sport & Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, 40014, Finland.,Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Eija K Laakkonen
- Gerontology Research Center & Faculty of Sport & Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, 40014, Finland
| | - Aino Heikkinen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Miina Ollikainen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Emma Raitoharju
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center Tampere, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
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22
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Higgins-Chen AT, Thrush KL, Wang Y, Minteer CJ, Kuo PL, Wang M, Niimi P, Sturm G, Lin J, Moore AZ, Bandinelli S, Vinkers CH, Vermetten E, Rutten BPF, Geuze E, Okhuijsen-Pfeifer C, van der Horst MZ, Schreiter S, Gutwinski S, Luykx JJ, Picard M, Ferrucci L, Crimmins EM, Boks MP, Hägg S, Hu-Seliger TT, Levine ME. A computational solution for bolstering reliability of epigenetic clocks: Implications for clinical trials and longitudinal tracking. NATURE AGING 2022; 2:644-661. [PMID: 36277076 PMCID: PMC9586209 DOI: 10.1038/s43587-022-00248-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 48.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Epigenetic clocks are widely used aging biomarkers calculated from DNA methylation data, but this data can be surprisingly unreliable. Here we show technical noise produces deviations up to 9 years between replicates for six prominent epigenetic clocks, limiting their utility. We present a computational solution to bolster reliability, calculating principal components from CpG-level data as input for biological age prediction. Our retrained principal-component versions of six clocks show agreement between most replicates within 1.5 years, improved detection of clock associations and intervention effects, and reliable longitudinal trajectories in vivo and in vitro. This method entails only one additional step compared to traditional clocks, requires no replicates or prior knowledge of CpG reliabilities for training, and can be applied to any existing or future epigenetic biomarker. The high reliability of principal component-based clocks is critical for applications to personalized medicine, longitudinal tracking, in vitro studies, and clinical trials of aging interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert T Higgins-Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
- VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Kyra L Thrush
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Yunzhang Wang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Pei-Lun Kuo
- Longitudinal Studies Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Meng Wang
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Peter Niimi
- Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Gabriel Sturm
- Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Division of Behavioral Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, United States
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY United States
| | - Jue Lin
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Ann Zenobia Moore
- Longitudinal Studies Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Christiaan H Vinkers
- Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Eric Vermetten
- Department Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Bart P F Rutten
- School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Elbert Geuze
- Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
- Brain Research & Innovation Centre, Ministry of Defence, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Cynthia Okhuijsen-Pfeifer
- Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
| | - Marte Z van der Horst
- Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
- Second Opinion Outpatient Clinic, GGNet Mental Health, Warnsveld, The Netherlands
| | - Stefanie Schreiter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefan Gutwinski
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jurjen J Luykx
- Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
- Second Opinion Outpatient Clinic, GGNet Mental Health, Warnsveld, The Netherlands
| | - Martin Picard
- Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Division of Behavioral Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, United States
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY United States
| | - Luigi Ferrucci
- Longitudinal Studies Section, Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Eileen M Crimmins
- Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Marco P Boks
- Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Morgan E Levine
- Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
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23
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Dominguez LJ, Barbagallo M. Antiageing strategies. PATHY'S PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF GERIATRIC MEDICINE 2022:1442-1458. [DOI: 10.1002/9781119484288.ch115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
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24
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Campagna MP, Xavier A, Lechner-Scott J, Maltby V, Scott RJ, Butzkueven H, Jokubaitis VG, Lea RA. Epigenome-wide association studies: current knowledge, strategies and recommendations. Clin Epigenetics 2021; 13:214. [PMID: 34863305 PMCID: PMC8645110 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-021-01200-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The aetiology and pathophysiology of complex diseases are driven by the interaction between genetic and environmental factors. The variability in risk and outcomes in these diseases are incompletely explained by genetics or environmental risk factors individually. Therefore, researchers are now exploring the epigenome, a biological interface at which genetics and the environment can interact. There is a growing body of evidence supporting the role of epigenetic mechanisms in complex disease pathophysiology. Epigenome-wide association studies (EWASes) investigate the association between a phenotype and epigenetic variants, most commonly DNA methylation. The decreasing cost of measuring epigenome-wide methylation and the increasing accessibility of bioinformatic pipelines have contributed to the rise in EWASes published in recent years. Here, we review the current literature on these EWASes and provide further recommendations and strategies for successfully conducting them. We have constrained our review to studies using methylation data as this is the most studied epigenetic mechanism; microarray-based data as whole-genome bisulphite sequencing remains prohibitively expensive for most laboratories; and blood-based studies due to the non-invasiveness of peripheral blood collection and availability of archived DNA, as well as the accessibility of publicly available blood-cell-based methylation data. Further, we address multiple novel areas of EWAS analysis that have not been covered in previous reviews: (1) longitudinal study designs, (2) the chip analysis methylation pipeline (ChAMP), (3) differentially methylated region (DMR) identification paradigms, (4) methylation quantitative trait loci (methQTL) analysis, (5) methylation age analysis and (6) identifying cell-specific differential methylation from mixed cell data using statistical deconvolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Pia Campagna
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Alexandre Xavier
- Centre for Information Based Medicine, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
| | - Jeannette Lechner-Scott
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
- Department of Neurology, Division of Medicine, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, Australia
| | - Vicky Maltby
- Centre for Information Based Medicine, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
| | - Rodney J Scott
- Centre for Information Based Medicine, Hunter Medical Research Institute, Newcastle, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
- Division of Molecular Medicine, New South Wales Health Pathology North, Newcastle, Australia
| | - Helmut Butzkueven
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Neurology, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Vilija G Jokubaitis
- Department of Neuroscience, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Neurology, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Rodney A Lea
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia.
- Centre for Genomics and Personalised Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
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25
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Szymczak S, Dose J, Torres GG, Heinsen FA, Venkatesh G, Datlinger P, Nygaard M, Mengel-From J, Flachsbart F, Klapper W, Christensen K, Lieb W, Schreiber S, Häsler R, Bock C, Franke A, Nebel A. DNA methylation QTL analysis identifies new regulators of human longevity. Hum Mol Genet 2021; 29:1154-1167. [PMID: 32160291 PMCID: PMC7206852 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddaa033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2019] [Revised: 01/01/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Human longevity is a complex trait influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, whose interaction is mediated by epigenetic mechanisms like DNA methylation. Here, we generated genome-wide whole-blood methylome data from 267 individuals, of which 71 were long-lived (90–104 years), by applying reduced representation bisulfite sequencing. We followed a stringent two-stage analysis procedure using discovery and replication samples to detect differentially methylated sites (DMSs) between young and long-lived study participants. Additionally, we performed a DNA methylation quantitative trait loci analysis to identify DMSs that underlie the longevity phenotype. We combined the DMSs results with gene expression data as an indicator of functional relevance. This approach yielded 21 new candidate genes, the majority of which are involved in neurophysiological processes or cancer. Notably, two candidates (PVRL2, ERCC1) are located on chromosome 19q, in close proximity to the well-known longevity- and Alzheimer’s disease-associated loci APOE and TOMM40. We propose this region as a longevity hub, operating on both a genetic (APOE, TOMM40) and an epigenetic (PVRL2, ERCC1) level. We hypothesize that the heritable methylation and associated gene expression changes reported here are overall advantageous for the LLI and may prevent/postpone age-related diseases and facilitate survival into very old age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silke Szymczak
- Institute of Medical Informatics and Statistics, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Janina Dose
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Guillermo G Torres
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Femke-Anouska Heinsen
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Geetha Venkatesh
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Paul Datlinger
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Marianne Nygaard
- Research Unit of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark
| | - Jonas Mengel-From
- Research Unit of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark
| | - Friederike Flachsbart
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Wolfram Klapper
- Institute of Pathology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Kaare Christensen
- Research Unit of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Odense University Hospital, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark
| | - Wolfgang Lieb
- Institute of Epidemiology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Stefan Schreiber
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Robert Häsler
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Christoph Bock
- CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.,Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.,Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarland Informatics Campus, D-66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
| | - Andre Franke
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Almut Nebel
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, D-24105 Kiel, Germany
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26
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The role of epigenetics in psychological resilience. Lancet Psychiatry 2021; 8:620-629. [PMID: 33915083 PMCID: PMC9561637 DOI: 10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30515-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Revised: 11/12/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
There is substantial variation in people's responses to adversity, with a considerable proportion of individuals displaying psychological resilience. Epigenetic mechanisms are hypothesised to be one molecular pathway of how adverse and traumatic events can become biologically embedded and contribute to individual differences in resilience. However, not much is known regarding the role of epigenetics in the development of psychological resilience. In this Review, we propose a new conceptual model for the different functions of epigenetic mechanisms in psychological resilience. The model considers the initial establishment of the epigenome, epigenetic modification due to adverse and protective environments, the role of protective factors in counteracting adverse influences, and genetic moderation of environmentally induced epigenetic modifications. After reviewing empirical evidence for the various components of the model, we identify research that should be prioritised and discuss practical implications of the proposed model for epigenetic research on resilience.
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27
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Lu M, Xueying Q, Hexiang P, Wenjing G, Hägg S, Weihua C, Chunxiao L, Canqing Y, Jun L, Zengchang P, Liming C, Hua W, Xianping W, Yunzhang W, Liming L. Genome-wide associations between alcohol consumption and blood DNA methylation: evidence from twin study. Epigenomics 2021; 13:939-951. [PMID: 33993705 DOI: 10.2217/epi-2021-0039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Aim: Alcohol intake alters DNA methylation profiles and methylation might mediate the association between alcohol and disease, but limited number of positive CpG sites repeatedly replicated. Materials & methods: In total, 57 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs discordant for alcohol drinking from the Chinese National Twin Registry and 158 MZ and dizygotic twin pairs in the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging were evaluated. DNA methylation was detected using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. Results: Among candidate CpG sites, cg07326074 was significantly correlated with drinking after adjusting for covariates in MZ twins in both datasets but not in the entire sample or dizygotic twins. Conclusion: The hypermethylation of cg07326074, located in the tumor-promoting gene C16orf59, was associated with alcohol consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Lu
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China
| | - Qin Xueying
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China.,Department of Medical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Peng Hexiang
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China
| | - Gao Wenjing
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Cao Weihua
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China
| | - Li Chunxiao
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China
| | - Yu Canqing
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China
| | - Lv Jun
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China
| | - Pang Zengchang
- Qingdao Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Qingdao 266033, PR China
| | - Cong Liming
- Zhejiang Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Hangzhou 310051, PR China
| | - Wang Hua
- Jiangsu Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Nanjing 210009, PR China
| | - Wu Xianping
- Sichuan Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Chengdu 610041, PR China
| | - Wang Yunzhang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Li Liming
- Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, PR China
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28
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Vershinina O, Bacalini MG, Zaikin A, Franceschi C, Ivanchenko M. Disentangling age-dependent DNA methylation: deterministic, stochastic, and nonlinear. Sci Rep 2021; 11:9201. [PMID: 33911141 PMCID: PMC8080842 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88504-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation variability arises due to concurrent genetic and environmental influences. Each of them is a mixture of regular and noisy sources, whose relative contribution has not been satisfactorily understood yet. We conduct a systematic assessment of the age-dependent methylation by the signal-to-noise ratio and identify a wealth of "deterministic" CpG probes (about 90%), whose methylation variability likely originates due to genetic and general environmental factors. The remaining 10% of "stochastic" CpG probes are arguably governed by the biological noise or incidental environmental factors. Investigating the mathematical functional relationship between methylation levels and variability, we find that in about 90% of the age-associated differentially methylated positions, the variability changes as the square of the methylation level, whereas in the most of the remaining cases the dependence is linear. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the methylation level itself in more than 15% cases varies nonlinearly with age (according to the power law), in contrast to the previously assumed linear changes. Our findings present ample evidence of the ubiquity of strong DNA methylation regulation, resulting in the individual age-dependent and nonlinear methylation trajectories, whose divergence explains the cross-sectional variability. It may also serve a basis for constructing novel nonlinear epigenetic clocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- O. Vershinina
- grid.28171.3d0000 0001 0344 908XDepartment of Applied Mathematics, Mathematics of Future Technologies Center, Laboratory of Systems Medicine of Healthy Aging, Lobachevsky University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia 603950
| | - M. G. Bacalini
- grid.492077.fUniversity of Bologna and IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna (ISNB), 40139 Bologna, Italy
| | - A. Zaikin
- grid.28171.3d0000 0001 0344 908XDepartment of Applied Mathematics, Mathematics of Future Technologies Center, Laboratory of Systems Medicine of Healthy Aging, Lobachevsky University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia 603950 ,grid.83440.3b0000000121901201Department of Mathematics and Institute for Women’s Health, University College London, London, WC1H 0AY UK ,grid.448878.f0000 0001 2288 8774Centre for Analysis of Complex Systems, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Moscow, Russia 119992
| | - C. Franceschi
- grid.28171.3d0000 0001 0344 908XDepartment of Applied Mathematics, Mathematics of Future Technologies Center, Laboratory of Systems Medicine of Healthy Aging, Lobachevsky University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia 603950 ,grid.492077.fUniversity of Bologna and IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna (ISNB), 40139 Bologna, Italy
| | - M. Ivanchenko
- grid.28171.3d0000 0001 0344 908XDepartment of Applied Mathematics, Mathematics of Future Technologies Center, Laboratory of Systems Medicine of Healthy Aging, Lobachevsky University, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia 603950
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29
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Karlsson IK, Ericsson M, Wang Y, Jylhävä J, Hägg S, Dahl Aslan AK, Reynolds CA, Pedersen NL. Epigenome-wide association study of level and change in cognitive abilities from midlife through late life. Clin Epigenetics 2021; 13:85. [PMID: 33883019 PMCID: PMC8061224 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-021-01075-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Epigenetic mechanisms are important in aging and may be involved in late-life changes in cognitive abilities. We conducted an epigenome-wide association study of leukocyte DNA methylation in relation to level and change in cognitive abilities, from midlife through late life in 535 Swedish twins.
Results Methylation levels were measured with the Infinium Human Methylation 450 K or Infinium MethylationEPIC array, and all sites passing quality control on both arrays were selected for analysis (n = 250,816). Empirical Bayes estimates of individual intercept (age 65), linear, and quadratic change were obtained from latent growth curve models of cognitive traits and used as outcomes in linear regression models. Significant sites (p < 2.4 × 10–7) were followed up in between-within twin pair models adjusting for familial confounding and full-growth modeling. We identified six significant associations between DNA methylation and level of cognitive abilities at age 65: cg18064256 (PPP1R13L) with processing speed and spatial ability; cg04549090 (NRXN3) with spatial ability; cg09988380 (POGZ), cg25651129 (-), and cg08011941 (ENTPD8) with working memory. The genes are involved in neuroinflammation, neuropsychiatric disorders, and ATP metabolism. Within-pair associations were approximately half that of between-pair associations across all sites. In full-growth curve models, associations between DNA methylation and cognitive level at age 65 were of small effect sizes, and associations between DNA methylation and longitudinal change in cognitive abilities of very small effect sizes. Conclusions Leukocyte DNA methylation was associated with level, but not change in cognitive abilities. The associations were substantially attenuated in within-pair analyses, indicating they are influenced in part by genetic factors. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13148-021-01075-9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ida K Karlsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. .,Institute of Gerontology and Aging Research Network - Jönköping (ARN-J), School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
| | - Malin Ericsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Yunzhang Wang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Juulia Jylhävä
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anna K Dahl Aslan
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Institute of Gerontology and Aging Research Network - Jönköping (ARN-J), School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.,Department of Health Sciences, School of Health Sciences and Welfare, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden
| | | | - Nancy L Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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30
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Cronjé HT, Nienaber-Rousseau C, Min JL, Green FR, Elliott HR, Pieters M. Comparison of DNA methylation clocks in Black South African men. Epigenomics 2021; 13:437-449. [PMID: 33677984 DOI: 10.2217/epi-2020-0333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Aims: DNA methylation clocks are widely used to estimate biological age, although limited data are available on non-European ethnicities. This manuscript characterizes the behavior of five DNA methylation clocks in 120 older Black South African men. Methods: The age estimation accuracy of the Horvath, Hannum and skin and blood clocks and the relative age-related mortality risk and predicted time to death portrayed by the PhenoAge and GrimAge biomarkers are investigated, respectively. Results: The results confirm the tendency of DNA methylation clocks to underestimate the biological age of older individuals. GrimAge more accurately characterizes biological decline in this African cohort compared with PhenoAge owing to the unique inclusion of smoking-related damage in the GrimAge estimate. Conclusions: Each clock provides a different fraction of information regarding the aging body. It is essential to continue studying under-represented population groups to ensure methylation-derived indicators are robust and useful in all populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Héléne T Cronjé
- Department of Public Health, Section of Epidemiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 2200, Denmark.,Centre of Excellence for Nutrition, North-West University, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa
| | - Cornelie Nienaber-Rousseau
- Centre of Excellence for Nutrition, North-West University, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa.,Medical Research Council Unit for Hypertension & Cardiovascular Disease, North-West University, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa
| | - Josine L Min
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 6BN, UK.,Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 6BN, UK
| | - Fiona R Green
- School of Biosciences & Medicine, Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, UK
| | - Hannah R Elliott
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 6BN, UK.,Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 6BN, UK
| | - Marlien Pieters
- Centre of Excellence for Nutrition, North-West University, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa.,Medical Research Council Unit for Hypertension & Cardiovascular Disease, North-West University, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa
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31
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Mulder RH, Neumann A, Cecil CAM, Walton E, Houtepen LC, Simpkin AJ, Rijlaarsdam J, Heijmans BT, Gaunt TR, Felix JF, Jaddoe VWV, Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, Tiemeier H, Relton CL, van IJzendoorn MH, Suderman M. Epigenome-wide change and variation in DNA methylation in childhood: trajectories from birth to late adolescence. Hum Mol Genet 2021; 30:119-134. [PMID: 33450751 PMCID: PMC8033147 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddaa280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2020] [Revised: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation (DNAm) is known to play a pivotal role in childhood health and development, but a comprehensive characterization of genome-wide DNAm trajectories across this age period is currently lacking. We have therefore performed a series of epigenome-wide association studies in 5019 blood samples collected at multiple time-points from birth to late adolescence from 2348 participants of two large independent cohorts. DNAm profiles of autosomal CpG sites (CpGs) were generated using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. Change over time was widespread, observed at over one-half (53%) of CpGs. In most cases, DNAm was decreasing (36% of CpGs). Inter-individual variation in linear trajectories was similarly widespread (27% of CpGs). Evidence for non-linear change and inter-individual variation in non-linear trajectories was somewhat less common (11 and 8% of CpGs, respectively). Very little inter-individual variation in change was explained by sex differences (0.4% of CpGs) even though sex-specific DNAm was observed at 5% of CpGs. DNAm trajectories were distributed non-randomly across the genome. For example, CpGs with decreasing DNAm were enriched in gene bodies and enhancers and were annotated to genes enriched in immune-developmental functions. In contrast, CpGs with increasing DNAm were enriched in promoter regions and annotated to genes enriched in neurodevelopmental functions. These findings depict a methylome undergoing widespread and often non-linear change throughout childhood. They support a developmental role for DNA methylation that extends beyond birth into late adolescence and has implications for understanding life-long health and disease. DNAm trajectories can be visualized at http://epidelta.mrcieu.ac.uk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa H Mulder
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Alexander Neumann
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Charlotte A M Cecil
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Esther Walton
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.,Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK
| | - Lotte C Houtepen
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Andrew J Simpkin
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.,School of Mathematics, Statistics and Applied Mathematics, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
| | - Jolien Rijlaarsdam
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Bastiaan T Heijmans
- Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Tom R Gaunt
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Janine F Felix
- Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Vincent W V Jaddoe
- Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Henning Tiemeier
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Department of Social and Behavioral Science, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Caroline L Relton
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Marinus H van IJzendoorn
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Matthew Suderman
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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32
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Clausing ES, Non AL. Epigenetics as a Mechanism of Developmental Embodiment of Stress, Resilience, and Cardiometabolic Risk Across Generations of Latinx Immigrant Families. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:696827. [PMID: 34354616 PMCID: PMC8329078 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.696827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychosocial stressors can become embodied to alter biology throughout the life course in ways that may have lasting health consequences. Immigrants are particularly vulnerable to high burdens of stress, which have heightened in the current sociopolitical climate. This study is an investigation of how immigration-related stress (IRS) may impact the cardiometabolic risk and epigenetic markers of Latinx immigrant mothers and children in Nashville, TN. We compared stress and resilience factors reported by Latina immigrant mothers and their children (aged 5-13) from two time points spanning the 2016 U.S. presidential election (June 2015-June 2016 baseline, n = 81; March-September 2018 follow-up, n = 39) with cardiometabolic risk markers (BMI, waist circumference, and blood pressure). We also analyzed these factors in relation to DNA methylation in saliva of stress-related candidate genes (SLC6A4 and FKBP5), generated via bisulfite pyrosequencing (complete case n's range from 67-72 baseline and 29-31 follow-up) (n's range from 80 baseline to 36 follow-up). We found various associations with cardiometabolic risk, such as higher social support and greater acculturation were associated with lower BMI in mothers; discrimination and school stress associated with greater waist circumferences in children. Very few exposures associated with FKBP5, but various stressors associated with methylation at many sites in SLC6A4, including immigrant-related stress in both mothers and children, and fear of parent deportation in children. Additionally, in the mothers, total maternal stress, health stress, and subjective social status associated with methylation at multiple sites of SLC6A4. Acculturation associated with methylation in mothers in both genes, though directions of effect varied over time. We also find DNA methylation at SLC6A4 associates with measures of adiposity and blood pressure, suggesting that methylation may be on the pathway linking stress with cardiometabolic risk. More research is needed to determine the role of these epigenetic differences in contributing to embodiment of stress across generations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth S Clausing
- Department of Anthropology, University of California San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Amy L Non
- Department of Anthropology, University of California San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA, United States
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33
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Maugeri A, Barchitta M, Magnano San Lio R, Li Destri G, Agodi A, Basile G. Epigenetic Aging and Colorectal Cancer: State of the Art and Perspectives for Future Research. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 22:ijms22010200. [PMID: 33379143 PMCID: PMC7795459 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22010200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Although translational research has identified a large number of potential biomarkers involved in colorectal cancer (CRC) carcinogenesis, a better understanding of the molecular pathways associated with biological aging in colorectal cells and tissues is needed. Here, we aim to summarize the state of the art about the role of age acceleration, defined as the difference between epigenetic age and chronological age, in the development and progression of CRC. Some studies have shown that accelerated biological aging is positively associated with the risk of cancer and death in general. In line with these findings, other studies have shown how the assessment of epigenetic age in people at risk for CRC could be helpful for monitoring the molecular response to preventive interventions. Moreover, it would be interesting to investigate whether aberrant epigenetic aging could help identify CRC patients with a high risk of recurrence and a worst prognosis, as well as those who respond poorly to treatment. Yet, the application of this novel concept is still in its infancy, and further research should be encouraged in anticipation of future applications in clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Maugeri
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, via S. Sofia, 87, 95123 Catania, Italy; (A.M.); (R.M.S.L.); (G.L.D.); (A.A.)
| | - Martina Barchitta
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, via S. Sofia, 87, 95123 Catania, Italy; (A.M.); (R.M.S.L.); (G.L.D.); (A.A.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Roberta Magnano San Lio
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, via S. Sofia, 87, 95123 Catania, Italy; (A.M.); (R.M.S.L.); (G.L.D.); (A.A.)
| | - Giovanni Li Destri
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, via S. Sofia, 87, 95123 Catania, Italy; (A.M.); (R.M.S.L.); (G.L.D.); (A.A.)
| | - Antonella Agodi
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, via S. Sofia, 87, 95123 Catania, Italy; (A.M.); (R.M.S.L.); (G.L.D.); (A.A.)
| | - Guido Basile
- Department of General Surgery and Medical-Surgical Specialties, University of Catania, via S. Sofia, 78, 95123 Catania, Italy;
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34
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Pandin P, Estruc I, Van Hecke D, Truong HN, Marullo L, Hublet S, Van Obbergh L. Brain Aging and Anesthesia. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth 2020; 33 Suppl 1:S58-S66. [PMID: 31279354 DOI: 10.1053/j.jvca.2019.03.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Herein, the authors review the neuroanatomical and the neurophysiological aspects of the normal aging evolution based on the recent literature and briefly describe the difference between physiological and pathological brain aging, with consideration of the currently recommended anesthesia management of older patients. The population of elderly patients is growing drastically with advances in medicine that have prolonged the life span. One of the direct consequence has been a significant increase in the request for anesthesia care for older patients despite the type of surgery (cardiac vs noncardiac and mainly orthopedic). Because the brain of this category of patients undergoes a specific triple influence (immune, metabolic, and inflammatory), some particular physiological, anatomical, and structural modifications must be taken into account because they expose these patients more specifically to postoperative cognitive disturbances. To prevent type of adverse outcome, a better knowledge and understanding of these neurosciences must be promoted. The strategies developed to prevent such adverse outcomes include the determination and detection of significant at-risk patients and improvement in the titration of anesthesia to reduce exposure of anesthesia to these patients through an adapted anesthesia-induced unconsciousness that avoids, as much as possible, the risk of toxic overdose with an overly deep brain depression. To accomplish this, the unprocessed electroencephalogram (EEG) and its spectrogram may represent a significant improvement in monitoring, first by allowing for the rapid recognition of repetitive or persistent EEG suppression by the on-line reading of the raw EEG trace and second by allowing for the accurate determination of the adequate anesthetic-induced state, obtained in general in this category of patients by substantially lowered doses of anesthetic agents. This represents a new methodology for anesthesia titration that is adjusted on a more case-by-case basis and is related to the physiology of individual patients. A better understanding of aging-induced brain transformations remains the key regarding the improvement of the anesthetic management of the always growing population of elderly patients. The promotion of the unprocessed EEG may represent the best method of preventing the risk of anesthetic toxicity, including postoperative cognitive dysfunctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Pandin
- Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Erasmus Academic Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Isabel Estruc
- Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Erasmus Academic Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Delphine Van Hecke
- Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Erasmus Academic Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Ha-Nam Truong
- Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Erasmus Academic Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Lucia Marullo
- Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Erasmus Academic Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Stephane Hublet
- Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Erasmus Academic Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Luc Van Obbergh
- Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Erasmus Academic Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
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35
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Mitsumori R, Sakaguchi K, Shigemizu D, Mori T, Akiyama S, Ozaki K, Niida S, Shimoda N. Lower DNA methylation levels in CpG island shores of CR1, CLU, and PICALM in the blood of Japanese Alzheimer's disease patients. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0239196. [PMID: 32991610 PMCID: PMC7523949 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to (1) investigate the relationship between late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and DNA methylation levels in six of the top seven AD-associated genes identified through a meta-analysis of recent genome wide association studies, APOE, BIN1, PICALM, CR1, CLU, and ABCA7, in blood, and (2) examine its applicability to the diagnosis of AD. We examined methylation differences at CpG island shores in the six genes using Sanger sequencing, and one of two groups of 48 AD patients and 48 elderly controls was used for a test or replication analysis. We found that methylation levels in three out of the six genes, CR1, CLU, and PICALM, were significantly lower in AD subjects. The combination of CLU methylation levels and the APOE genotype classified AD patients with AUC = 0.84 and 0.80 in the test and replication analyses, respectively. Our study implicates methylation differences at the CpG island shores of AD-associated genes in the onset of AD and suggests their diagnostic value.
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Affiliation(s)
- Risa Mitsumori
- Medical Genome Center, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi, Japan
| | - Kazuya Sakaguchi
- Department of Regenerative Medicine, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi, Japan
| | - Daichi Shigemizu
- Medical Genome Center, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi, Japan
| | - Taiki Mori
- Medical Genome Center, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi, Japan
| | - Shintaro Akiyama
- Medical Genome Center, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi, Japan
| | - Kouichi Ozaki
- Medical Genome Center, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi, Japan
| | - Shumpei Niida
- Medical Genome Center, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi, Japan
| | - Nobuyoshi Shimoda
- Department of Regenerative Medicine, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi, Japan
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36
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Yan Q, Paul KC, Lu AT, Kusters C, Binder AM, Horvath S, Ritz B. Epigenetic mutation load is weakly correlated with epigenetic age acceleration. Aging (Albany NY) 2020; 12:17863-17894. [PMID: 32991324 PMCID: PMC7585066 DOI: 10.18632/aging.103950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
DNA methylation (DNAm) age estimators are widely used to study aging-related conditions. It is not yet known whether DNAm age is associated with the accumulation of stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEMs), which reflect dysfunctions of the epigenetic maintenance system. Here, we defined epigenetic mutation load (EML) as the total number of SEMs per individual. We assessed associations between EML and DNAm age acceleration estimators using biweight midcorrelations in four population-based studies (total n = 6,388). EML was not only positively associated with chronological age (meta r = 0.171), but also with four measures of epigenetic age acceleration: the Horvath pan tissue clock, intrinsic epigenetic age acceleration, the Hannum clock, and the GrimAge clock (meta-analysis correlation ranging from r = 0.109 to 0.179). We further conducted pathway enrichment analyses for each participant's SEMs. The enrichment result demonstrated the stochasticity of epigenetic mutations, meanwhile implicated several pathways: signaling, neurogenesis, neurotransmitter, glucocorticoid, and circadian rhythm pathways may contribute to faster DNAm age acceleration. Finally, investigating genomic-region specific EML, we found that EMLs located within regions of transcriptional repression (TSS1500, TSS200, and 1stExon) were associated with faster age acceleration. Overall, our findings suggest a role for the accumulation of epigenetic mutations in the aging process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Yan
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Kimberly C. Paul
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Ake T. Lu
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Cynthia Kusters
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Alexandra M. Binder
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA,Population Sciences in the Pacific Program (Cancer Epidemiology), University of Hawaii Cancer Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA
| | - Steve Horvath
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA,Department of Biostatistics, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Beate Ritz
- Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA,Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
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37
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Reynolds CA, Tan Q, Munoz E, Jylhävä J, Hjelmborg J, Christiansen L, Hägg S, Pedersen NL. A decade of epigenetic change in aging twins: Genetic and environmental contributions to longitudinal DNA methylation. Aging Cell 2020; 19:e13197. [PMID: 32710526 PMCID: PMC7431820 DOI: 10.1111/acel.13197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Revised: 06/07/2020] [Accepted: 06/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epigenetic changes may result from the interplay of environmental exposures and genetic influences and contribute to differences in age-related disease, disability, and mortality risk. However, the etiologies contributing to stability and change in DNA methylation have rarely been examined longitudinally. METHODS We considered DNA methylation in whole blood leukocyte DNA across a 10-year span in two samples of same-sex aging twins: (a) Swedish Adoption Twin Study of Aging (SATSA; N = 53 pairs, 53% female; 62.9 and 72.5 years, SD = 7.2 years); (b) Longitudinal Study of Aging Danish Twins (LSADT; N = 43 pairs, 72% female, 76.2 and 86.1 years, SD=1.8 years). Joint biometrical analyses were conducted on 358,836 methylation probes in common. Bivariate twin models were fitted, adjusting for age, sex, and country. RESULTS Overall, results suggest genetic contributions to DNA methylation across 358,836 sites tended to be small and lessen across 10 years (broad heritability M = 23.8% and 18.0%) but contributed to stability across time while person-specific factors explained emergent influences across the decade. Aging-specific sites identified from prior EWAS and methylation age clocks were more heritable than background sites. The 5037 sites that showed the greatest heritable/familial-environmental influences (p < 1E-07) were enriched for immune and inflammation pathways while 2020 low stability sites showed enrichment in stress-related pathways. CONCLUSIONS Across time, stability in methylation is primarily due to genetic contributions, while novel experiences and exposures contribute to methylation differences. Elevated genetic contributions at age-related methylation sites suggest that adaptions to aging and senescence may be differentially impacted by genetic background.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Qihua Tan
- University of Southern DenmarkOdenseDenmark
| | - Elizabeth Munoz
- University of California ‐ RiversideRiversideCAUSA
- Present address:
University of Texas at AustinAustinTXUSA
| | | | | | - Lene Christiansen
- University of Southern DenmarkOdenseDenmark
- Copenhagen University Hospital, RigshospitaletCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Sara Hägg
- Karolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
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38
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Amenyah SD, Ward M, Strain JJ, McNulty H, Hughes CF, Dollin C, Walsh CP, Lees-Murdock DJ. Nutritional Epigenomics and Age-Related Disease. Curr Dev Nutr 2020; 4:nzaa097. [PMID: 32666030 PMCID: PMC7335360 DOI: 10.1093/cdn/nzaa097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Revised: 04/27/2020] [Accepted: 05/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in epigenetic research have enabled the development of epigenetic clocks, which have greatly enhanced our ability to investigate molecular processes that contribute to aging and age-related disease. These biomarkers offer the potential to measure the effect of environmental exposures linked to dynamic changes in DNA methylation, including nutrients, as factors in age-related disease. They also offer a compelling insight into how imbalances in the supply of nutrients, particularly B-vitamins, or polymorphisms in regulatory enzymes involved in 1-carbon metabolism, the key pathway that supplies methyl groups for epigenetic reactions, may influence epigenetic age and interindividual disease susceptibility. Evidence from recent studies is critically reviewed, focusing on the significant contribution of the epigenetic clock to nutritional epigenomics and its impact on health outcomes and age-related disease. Further longitudinal studies and randomized nutritional interventions are required to advance the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophia D Amenyah
- Genomic Medicine Research Group , School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. BT52 1SA
- Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. BT52 1SA
| | - Mary Ward
- Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. BT52 1SA
| | - J J Strain
- Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. BT52 1SA
| | - Helene McNulty
- Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. BT52 1SA
| | - Catherine F Hughes
- Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. BT52 1SA
| | - Caitlin Dollin
- Genomic Medicine Research Group , School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. BT52 1SA
| | - Colum P Walsh
- Genomic Medicine Research Group , School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. BT52 1SA
| | - Diane J Lees-Murdock
- Genomic Medicine Research Group , School of Biomedical Sciences, Ulster University, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. BT52 1SA
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39
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Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic inflammatory demyelinating and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system, is today a leading cause of unpredictable lifelong disability in young adults. The treatment of patients in progressive stages remains highly challenging, alluding to our limited understanding of the underlying pathological processes. In this review, we provide insights into the mechanisms underpinning MS progression from a perspective of epigenetics, that refers to stable and mitotically heritable, yet reversible, changes in the genome activity and gene expression. We first recapitulate findings from epigenetic studies examining the brain tissue of progressive MS patients, which support a contribution of DNA and histone modifications in impaired oligodendrocyte differentiation, defective myelination/remyelination and sustained neuro-axonal vulnerability. We next explore possibilities for identifying factors affecting progression using easily accessible tissues such as blood by comparing epigenetic signatures in peripheral immune cells and brain tissue. Despite minor overlap at individual methylation sites, nearly 30% of altered genes reported in peripheral immune cells of progressive MS patients were found in brain tissue, jointly converging on alterations of neuronal functions. We further speculate about the mechanisms underlying shared epigenetic patterns between blood and brain, which likely imply the influence of internal (genetic control) and/or external (e.g. smoking and ageing) factors imprinting a common signature in both compartments. Overall, we propose that epigenetics might shed light on clinically relevant mechanisms involved in disease progression and open new avenues for the treatment of progressive MS patients in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Kular
- From the, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - M Jagodic
- From the, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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40
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Han Y, Franzen J, Stiehl T, Gobs M, Kuo CC, Nikolić M, Hapala J, Koop BE, Strathmann K, Ritz-Timme S, Wagner W. New targeted approaches for epigenetic age predictions. BMC Biol 2020; 18:71. [PMID: 32580727 PMCID: PMC7315536 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-020-00807-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Age-associated DNA methylation changes provide a promising biomarker for the aging process. While genome-wide DNA methylation profiles enable robust age-predictors by integration of many age-associated CG dinucleotides (CpGs), there are various alternative approaches for targeted measurements at specific CpGs that better support standardized and cost-effective high-throughput analysis. Results In this study, we utilized 4647 Illumina BeadChip profiles of blood to select CpG sites that facilitate reliable age-predictions based on pyrosequencing. We demonstrate that the precision of DNA methylation measurements can be further increased with droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). In comparison, bisulfite barcoded amplicon sequencing (BBA-seq) gave slightly lower correlation between chronological age and DNA methylation at individual CpGs, while the age-predictions were overall relatively accurate. Furthermore, BBA-seq data revealed that the correlation of methylation levels with age at neighboring CpG sites follows a bell-shaped curve, often associated with a CTCF binding site. We demonstrate that within individual BBA-seq reads the DNA methylation at neighboring CpGs is not coherently modified, but reveals a stochastic pattern. Based on this, we have developed a new approach for epigenetic age predictions based on the binary sequel of methylated and non-methylated sites in individual reads, which reflects heterogeneity in epigenetic aging within a sample. Conclusion Targeted DNA methylation analysis at few age-associated CpGs by pyrosequencing, BBA-seq, and particularly ddPCR enables high precision of epigenetic age-predictions. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the stochastic evolution of age-associated DNA methylation patterns in BBA-seq data enables epigenetic clocks for individual DNA strands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Han
- Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Stem Cell Biology and Cellular Engineering, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Pauwelsstraße 20, 52074, Aachen, Germany.,Institute for Biomedical Engineering - Cell Biology, University Hospital of RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Julia Franzen
- Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Stem Cell Biology and Cellular Engineering, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Pauwelsstraße 20, 52074, Aachen, Germany.,Institute for Biomedical Engineering - Cell Biology, University Hospital of RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Thomas Stiehl
- Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR), Institute of Applied Mathematics, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Gobs
- Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Stem Cell Biology and Cellular Engineering, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Pauwelsstraße 20, 52074, Aachen, Germany.,Institute for Biomedical Engineering - Cell Biology, University Hospital of RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Chao-Chung Kuo
- Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Stem Cell Biology and Cellular Engineering, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Pauwelsstraße 20, 52074, Aachen, Germany.,Institute for Biomedical Engineering - Cell Biology, University Hospital of RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Miloš Nikolić
- Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Stem Cell Biology and Cellular Engineering, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Pauwelsstraße 20, 52074, Aachen, Germany.,Institute for Biomedical Engineering - Cell Biology, University Hospital of RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Jan Hapala
- Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Stem Cell Biology and Cellular Engineering, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Pauwelsstraße 20, 52074, Aachen, Germany.,Institute for Biomedical Engineering - Cell Biology, University Hospital of RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | | | - Klaus Strathmann
- Institute for Transfusion Medicine, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Aachen, Germany
| | - Stefanie Ritz-Timme
- Institute for Legal Medicine, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Wagner
- Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Stem Cell Biology and Cellular Engineering, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Pauwelsstraße 20, 52074, Aachen, Germany. .,Institute for Biomedical Engineering - Cell Biology, University Hospital of RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
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41
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Salameh Y, Bejaoui Y, El Hajj N. DNA Methylation Biomarkers in Aging and Age-Related Diseases. Front Genet 2020; 11:171. [PMID: 32211026 PMCID: PMC7076122 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research efforts provided compelling evidence of genome-wide DNA methylation alterations in aging and age-related disease. It is currently well established that DNA methylation biomarkers can determine biological age of any tissue across the entire human lifespan, even during development. There is growing evidence suggesting epigenetic age acceleration to be strongly linked to common diseases or occurring in response to various environmental factors. DNA methylation based clocks are proposed as biomarkers of early disease risk as well as predictors of life expectancy and mortality. In this review, we will summarize key advances in epigenetic clocks and their potential application in precision health. We will also provide an overview of progresses in epigenetic biomarker discovery in Alzheimer's, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, we will highlight the importance of prospective study designs to identify and confirm epigenetic biomarkers of disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nady El Hajj
- College of Health and Life Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar
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42
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Hägg S, Jylhävä J. Should we invest in biological age predictors to treat colorectal cancer in older adults? Eur J Surg Oncol 2020; 46:316-320. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejso.2019.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2019] [Revised: 09/09/2019] [Accepted: 11/06/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
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43
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Li X, Ploner A, Wang Y, Magnusson PKE, Reynolds C, Finkel D, Pedersen NL, Jylhävä J, Hägg S. Longitudinal trajectories, correlations and mortality associations of nine biological ages across 20-years follow-up. eLife 2020; 9:e51507. [PMID: 32041686 PMCID: PMC7012595 DOI: 10.7554/elife.51507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 12/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Biological age measurements (BAs) assess aging-related physiological change and predict health risks among individuals of the same chronological age (CA). Multiple BAs have been proposed and are well studied individually but not jointly. We included 845 individuals and 3973 repeated measurements from a Swedish population-based cohort and examined longitudinal trajectories, correlations, and mortality associations of nine BAs across 20 years follow-up. We found the longitudinal growth of functional BAs accelerated around age 70; average levels of BA curves differed by sex across the age span (50-90 years). All BAs were correlated to varying degrees; correlations were mostly explained by CA. Individually, all BAs except for telomere length were associated with mortality risk independently of CA. The largest effects were seen for methylation age estimators (GrimAge) and the frailty index (FI). In joint models, two methylation age estimators (Horvath and GrimAge) and FI remained predictive, suggesting they are complementary in predicting mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xia Li
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
| | - Alexander Ploner
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
| | - Yunzhang Wang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
| | - Patrik KE Magnusson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
| | - Chandra Reynolds
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of California, RiversideRiversideUnited States
| | - Deborah Finkel
- Department of PsychologyIndiana University SoutheastNew AlbanyUnited States
- Institute for GerontologyJönköping UniversityJönköpingSweden
| | - Nancy L Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
| | - Juulia Jylhävä
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska InstitutetStockholmSweden
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44
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Wang Y, Karlsson R, Jylhävä J, Hedman ÅK, Almqvist C, Karlsson IK, Pedersen NL, Almgren M, Hägg S. Comprehensive longitudinal study of epigenetic mutations in aging. Clin Epigenetics 2019; 11:187. [PMID: 31818313 PMCID: PMC6902582 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-019-0788-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2019] [Accepted: 11/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The role of DNA methylation in aging has been widely studied. However, epigenetic mutations, here defined as aberrant methylation levels compared to the distribution in a population, are less understood. Hence, we investigated longitudinal accumulation of epigenetic mutations, using 994 blood samples collected at up to five time points from 375 individuals in old ages. Results We verified earlier cross-sectional evidence on the increase of epigenetic mutations with age, and identified important contributing factors including sex, CD19+ B cells, genetic background, cancer diagnosis, and technical artifacts. We further classified epigenetic mutations into High/Low Methylation Outliers (HMO/LMO) according to their changes in methylation, and specifically studied methylation sites (CpGs) that were prone to mutate (frequently mutated CpGs). We validated four epigenetically mutated CpGs using pyrosequencing in 93 samples. Furthermore, by using twins, we concluded that the age-related accumulation of epigenetic mutations was not related to genetic factors, hence driven by stochastic or environmental effects. Conclusions Here we conducted a comprehensive study of epigenetic mutation and highlighted its important role in aging process and cancer development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunzhang Wang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Robert Karlsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Juulia Jylhävä
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Åsa K Hedman
- Rheumatology Unit, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Catarina Almqvist
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden.,Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ida K Karlsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden.,Institute of Gerontology and Aging Research Network - Jönköping (ARN-J), School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden
| | - Nancy L Pedersen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Malin Almgren
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centrum for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden.
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45
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Replicating associations between DNA methylation and body mass index in a longitudinal sample of older twins. Int J Obes (Lond) 2019; 44:1397-1405. [PMID: 31801962 DOI: 10.1038/s41366-019-0498-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2019] [Revised: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 11/17/2019] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is an important interplay between epigenetic factors and body weight, and previous work has identified ten sites where DNA methylation is robustly associated with body mass index (BMI) cross-sectionally. However, interpretation of the associations is complicated by the substantial changes in BMI often occurring in late-life, and the fact that methylation is often driven by genetic variation. This study therefore investigated the longitudinal association between these ten sites and BMI from midlife to late-life, and whether associations persist after controlling for genetic factors. METHODS We used data from 535 individuals (mean age 68) in the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA) with longitudinal measures of both DNA methylation from blood samples and BMI, spanning up to 20 years. Methylation levels were measured with the Infinium Human Methylation 450K or Infinium MethylationEpic array, with seven of the ten sites passing quality control. Latent growth curve models were applied to investigate longitudinal associations between methylation and BMI, and between-within models to study associations within twin pairs, thus adjusting for genetic factors. RESULTS Baseline DNA methylation levels at five of the seven sites were associated with BMI level at age 65 (cg00574958 [CPT1A]; cg11024682 [SREBF1]), and/or change (cg06192883 [MYO5C]; cg06946797 [RMI2]; cg08857797 [VPS25]). For four of the five sites, the associations remained comparable within twin pairs. However, the effects of cg06192883 were substantially attenuated within pairs. No change in DNA methylation was detected for any of the seven evaluated sites. CONCLUSION Five of the seven sites investigated were associated with late-life level and/or change in BMI. The effects for four of the sites remained similar when examined within twin pairs, indicating that the associations are mainly environmentally driven. However, the substantial attenuation in the association between cg06192883 and late-life BMI within pairs points to the importance of genetic factors in this association.
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46
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West MD, Sternberg H, Labat I, Janus J, Chapman KB, Malik NN, de Grey ADNJ, Larocca D. Toward a unified theory of aging and regeneration. Regen Med 2019; 14:867-886. [DOI: 10.2217/rme-2019-0062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Growing evidence supports the antagonistic pleiotropy theory of mammalian aging. Accordingly, changes in gene expression following the pluripotency transition, and subsequent transitions such as the embryonic–fetal transition, while providing tumor suppressive and antiviral survival benefits also result in a loss of regenerative potential leading to age-related fibrosis and degenerative diseases. However, reprogramming somatic cells to pluripotency demonstrates the possibility of restoring telomerase and embryonic regeneration pathways and thus reversing the age-related decline in regenerative capacity. A unified model of aging and loss of regenerative potential is emerging that may ultimately be translated into new therapeutic approaches for establishing induced tissue regeneration and modulation of the embryo-onco phenotype of cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ivan Labat
- AgeX Therapeutics, Inc., Alameda, CA 94501, USA
| | | | | | - Nafees N Malik
- AgeX Therapeutics, Inc., Alameda, CA 94501, USA
- Juvenescence Ltd, London, UK
| | - Aubrey DNJ de Grey
- AgeX Therapeutics, Inc., Alameda, CA 94501, USA
- SENS Research Foundation, Mountain View, CA 94041, USA
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47
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Zhao W, Ammous F, Ratliff S, Liu J, Yu M, Mosley TH, Kardia SLR, Smith JA. Education and Lifestyle Factors Are Associated with DNA Methylation Clocks in Older African Americans. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2019; 16:ijerph16173141. [PMID: 31466396 PMCID: PMC6747433 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16173141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2019] [Revised: 08/06/2019] [Accepted: 08/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
DNA methylation (DNAm) clocks are important biomarkers of cellular aging and are associated with a variety of age-related chronic diseases and all-cause mortality. Examining the relationship between education and lifestyle risk factors for age-related diseases and multiple DNAm clocks can increase the understanding of how risk factors contribute to aging at the cellular level. This study explored the association between education or lifestyle risk factors for age-related diseases and the acceleration of four DNAm clocks, including intrinsic (IEAA) and extrinsic epigenetic age acceleration (EEAA), PhenoAge acceleration (PhenoAA), and GrimAge acceleration (GrimAA) in the African American participants of the Genetic Epidemiology Network of Arteriopathy. We performed both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. In cross-sectional analyses, gender, education, BMI, smoking, and alcohol consumption were all independently associated with GrimAA, whereas only some of them were associated with other clocks. The effect of smoking and education on GrimAA varied by gender. Longitudinal analyses suggest that age and BMI continued to increase GrimAA, and that age and current smoking continued to increase PhenoAA after controlling DNAm clocks at baseline. In conclusion, education and common lifestyle risk factors were associated with multiple DNAm clocks. However, the association with each risk factor varied by clock, which suggests that different clocks may capture adverse effects from different environmental stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Zhao
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
| | - Farah Ammous
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Scott Ratliff
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Jiaxuan Liu
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Miao Yu
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Thomas H Mosley
- Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39126, USA
| | - Sharon L R Kardia
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Jennifer A Smith
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA
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48
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Developments in molecular epidemiology of aging. Emerg Top Life Sci 2019; 3:411-421. [PMID: 33523205 PMCID: PMC7289014 DOI: 10.1042/etls20180173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2019] [Revised: 05/10/2019] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The field of molecular epidemiology of aging involves the application of molecular methods to measure aging processes and their genetic determinants in human cohorts. Over the last decade, the field has undergone rapid progress with a dramatic increase in the number of papers published. The aim of this review is to give an overview of the research field, with a specific focus on new developments, opportunities, and challenges. Aging occurs at multiple hierarchical levels. There is increasing consensus that aging-related changes at the molecular level cause declines in physiological integrity, functional capacity, and ultimately lifespan. Molecular epidemiology studies seek to quantify this process. Telomere length, composite scores integrating clinical biomarkers, and omics clocks are among the most well-studied metrics in molecular epidemiology studies. New developments in the field include bigger data and hypothesis-free analysis together with new modes of collaborations in interdisciplinary teams and open access norms around data sharing. Key challenges facing the field are the lack of a gold standard by which to evaluate molecular measures of aging, inconsistency in which metrics of aging are measured and analyzed across studies, and a need for more longitudinal data necessary to observe change over time.
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49
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Sturm G, Cardenas A, Bind MA, Horvath S, Wang S, Wang Y, Hägg S, Hirano M, Picard M. Human aging DNA methylation signatures are conserved but accelerated in cultured fibroblasts. Epigenetics 2019; 14:961-976. [PMID: 31156022 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2019.1626651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Aging is associated with progressive and site-specific changes in DNA methylation (DNAm). These global changes are captured by DNAm clocks that accurately predict chronological age in humans but relatively little is known about how clocks perform in vitro. Here we culture primary human fibroblasts across the cellular lifespan (~6 months) and use four different DNAm clocks to show that age-related DNAm signatures are conserved and accelerated in vitro. The Skin & Blood clock shows the best linear correlation with chronological time (r = 0.90), including during replicative senescence. Although similar in nature, the rate of epigenetic aging is approximately 62x times faster in cultured cells than in the human body. Consistent with in vivo data, cells aged under hyperglycemic conditions exhibit an approximately three years elevation in baseline DNAm age. Moreover, candidate gene-based analyses further corroborate the conserved but accelerated biological aging process in cultured fibroblasts. Fibroblasts mirror the established DNAm topology of the age-related ELOVL2 gene in human blood and the rapid hypermethylation of its promoter cg16867657, which correlates with a linear decrease in ELOVL2 mRNA levels across the lifespan. Using generalized additive modeling on twelve timepoints across the lifespan, we also show how single CpGs exhibit loci-specific, linear and nonlinear trajectories that reach rates up to -47% (hypomethylation) to +23% (hypermethylation) per month. Together, these high-temporal resolution global, gene-specific, and single CpG data highlight the conserved and accelerated nature of epigenetic aging in cultured fibroblasts, which may constitute a system to evaluate age-modifying interventions across the lifespan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Sturm
- a Department of Psychiatry, Division of Behavioral Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center , New York , NY , USA
| | - Andres Cardenas
- b Division of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health , Berkeley , CA , USA
| | - Marie-Abèle Bind
- c Department of Statistics, Harvard University , Cambridge , MA , USA
| | - Steve Horvath
- d Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles , Los Angeles , CA , USA
| | - Shuang Wang
- e Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center , New York , NY , USA
| | - Yunzhang Wang
- f Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , Sweden
| | - Sara Hägg
- f Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet , Stockholm , Sweden
| | - Michio Hirano
- g Department of Neurology, H. Houston Merritt Center, Columbia Translational Neuroscience Initiative, Columbia University Irving Medical Center , New York , NY , USA
| | - Martin Picard
- a Department of Psychiatry, Division of Behavioral Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center , New York , NY , USA.,g Department of Neurology, H. Houston Merritt Center, Columbia Translational Neuroscience Initiative, Columbia University Irving Medical Center , New York , NY , USA.,h Columbia Aging Center, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health , New York , NY , USA
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50
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Jylhävä J, Jiang M, Foebel AD, Pedersen NL, Hägg S. Can markers of biological age predict dependency in old age? Biogerontology 2019; 20:321-329. [PMID: 30666568 PMCID: PMC6535415 DOI: 10.1007/s10522-019-09795-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2018] [Accepted: 01/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Recent research has shown that markers of biological age, such as leukocyte telomere length (LTL), epigenetic clocks and the frailty index (FI) are predictive of mortality and age-related diseases. However, whether these markers associate with the need for care in old age, thereby having utility in reflecting dependency, is unclear. This study was undertaken to analyze whether LTL, two epigenetic clocks-the DNA methylation age (DNAmAge) and DNAm PhenoAge-and the FI are associated with the need for regular care in up to 604 individuals (aged 48-94 years) participating in the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging. Need for regular care was defined as receiving formal or informal help in daily routines at least once per week. Logistic regression adjusted for age, sex and education was used in the analysis. The predictive accuracies, assessed as the area under the curve (AUC) for the significant biological age measures were further compared to the accuracies of the limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL). Neither LTL nor the epigenetic clocks were associated with the need for care, whereas the FI was; odds ratio for 10% increase in FI 3.54 (95% confidence interval 2.32-5.41). The FI also demonstrated higher predictive accuracy than the ADL score (FI AUC 0.80 vs. ADL score AUC 0.62; p < 0.001 for equality of the AUCs), whereas the difference between FI AUC (0.80) and IADL score AUC (0.75) was not significant (p = 0.238). The FI might thus be a useful marker for the need for care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juulia Jylhävä
- The Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17 156, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Miao Jiang
- The Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17 156, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Andrea D Foebel
- The Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17 156, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Nancy L Pedersen
- The Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17 156, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sara Hägg
- The Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 12A, 17 156, Stockholm, Sweden
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