Paper Spotlight: French Cohort Shows Centenarians Consistently Present Younger Epigenetic Age

Posted by

Aging (Aging-US)

Aging-US published this trending research paper as the cover of 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" by researchers from the Laboratory for Genomics, Foundation Jean Dausset – CEPH, Paris, France; Laboratory of Excellence GenMed, Paris, France; Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center Inserm U1153, Inrae U1125, Cnam, University of Paris (CRESS), Bobigny, France; Centre de Ressources Biologiques, CEPH Biobank, Foundation Jean Dausset – CEPH, Paris, France; Centre National de Recherche en Génomique Humaine, CEA, Institut François Jacob, Evry, France. DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.204316 Corresponding author - Alexandre How-Kit - alexandre.how-kit@fjd-ceph.org Abstract 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 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. Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://aging.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Faging.204316 Press release - https://www.aging-us.com/news_room/Centenarians-consistently-present-a-younger-epigenetic-age-than-their-chronological-age-with-four-epigenetic-clocks Keywords - aging, epigenetic clock, DNAmage, centenarians, DNA methylation, pyrosequencing, longevity About Aging-US Launched in 2009, Aging-US publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research and age-related diseases, including cancer—and now, with a special focus on COVID-19 vulnerability as an age-dependent syndrome. Topics in Aging-US go beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR, among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways. Please visit our website at https://www.Aging-US.com​​ and connect with us: SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/Aging-Us Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AgingUS/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/AgingJrnl Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/agingjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/agingus​ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/aging/ Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/AgingUS/ Media Contact 18009220957 MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM