Aging | Centenarians Consistently Present Younger Epigenetic Age Than Their Chronological Age With Four Epigenetic Clocks Based on Small Number of CpG Sites
10-17-2022“To our knowledge, this is the first time that DNAmage was investigated in such a large cohort of centenarians and of long-lived individuals’ offspring using epigenetic clocks based on a small number of CpG sites [30–32].”
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BUFFALO, NY- October 17, 2022 – A new research paper was published on the cover of Aging (listed as "Aging (Albany NY)" by Medline/PubMed and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 14, Issue 19, entitled, “Centenarians consistently present a younger epigenetic age than their chronological age with four epigenetic clocks based on a small number of CpG sites.”
Aging is a progressive time-dependent biological process affecting differentially individuals, who can sometimes present exceptional longevity. Epigenetic alterations are one of the hallmarks of aging, which comprise the epigenetic drift and clock at DNA methylation level.
In a new study, researchers Antoine Daunay, Lise M. Hardy, Yosra Bouyacoub, Mourad Sahbatou, Mathilde Touvier, Hélène Blanché, Jean-François Deleuze, and Alexandre How-Kit from Foundation Jean Dausset – CEPH, Laboratory of Excellence GenMed, Sorbonne Paris Nord University, University of Paris (CRESS), and Institut François Jacob investigated the DNA methylation-based age (DNAmage) of long-lived French individuals in the CEPH Aging Cohort using four epigenetic clocks.
“In the present study, we estimated the DNA methylation-based age (DNAmage) using four epigenetic clocks based on a small number of CpGs in French centenarians and semi-supercentenarians (CSSC, n=214) as well as nonagenarians' and centenarians' offspring (NCO, n=143) compared to individuals from the French general population (CG, n=149).”
DNA methylation analysis of the nine CpGs included in the epigenetic clocks showed high correlation with chronological age (-0.66>R>0.54) and also the presence of an epigenetic drift for four CpGs that was only visible in CSSC. DNAmage analysis showed that CSSC and to a lesser extend NCO present a younger DNAmage than their chronological age (15-28.5 years for CSSC, 4.4-11.5 years for NCO and 4.2-8.2 years for CG), which were strongly significant in CSSC compared to CG (p-values<2.2e-16).
These differences suggest that epigenetic aging and potentially biological aging are slowed in exceptionally long-lived individuals and that epigenetic clocks based on a small number of CpGs are sufficient to reveal alterations of the global epigenetic clock.
“This suggests a decelerated epigenetic and biological aging in these two groups of individuals, confirming the results of three other studies performed on Italian, Australian and Israeli long-lived individuals. In addition, our study also demonstrated the possibility of using epigenetic clocks based on a small number of CpG sites to reveal DNAmage and chronological age differences between individuals with different life expectancy.”
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204316
Corresponding Author: Alexandre How-Kit - Email: alexandre.how-kit@fjd-ceph.org
Keywords: epigenetic clock, DNAmage, centenarians, DNA methylation, pyrosequencing, longevity
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About Aging-US:
The mission of the journal is to understand the mechanisms surrounding aging and age-related diseases, including cancer as the main cause of death in the modern aged population.
The journal aims to promote 1) treatment of age-related diseases by slowing down aging, 2) validation of anti-aging drugs by treating age-related diseases, and 3) prevention of cancer by inhibiting aging. (Cancer and COVID-19 are age-related diseases.)
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