Abstract
The discovery of biomarkers able to predict biological age of individuals is a crucial goal in aging research. Recently, researchers' attention has turn toward epigenetic markers of aging. Using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip on whole blood DNA from a small cohort of 64 subjects of different ages, we identified 3 regions, the CpG islands of ELOVL2, FHL2, and PENK genes, whose methylation level strongly correlates with age. These results were confirmed by the Sequenom's EpiTYPER assay on a larger cohort of 501 subjects from 9 to 99 years, including 7 cord blood samples. Among the 3 genes, ELOVL2 shows a progressive increase in methylation that begins since the very first stage of life (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.92) and appears to be a very promising biomarker of aging.
© 2012 The Authors Aging Cell © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Acetyltransferases / blood
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Acetyltransferases / genetics*
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Adolescent
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Adult
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Aged
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Aged, 80 and over
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Aging / blood
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Aging / genetics*
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Child
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CpG Islands
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DNA Methylation
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Enkephalins / blood
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Enkephalins / genetics*
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Epigenesis, Genetic*
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Fatty Acid Elongases
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Female
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Fetal Blood / chemistry
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Genetic Markers
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Genome, Human*
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Humans
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LIM-Homeodomain Proteins / blood
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LIM-Homeodomain Proteins / genetics*
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Male
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Middle Aged
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Muscle Proteins / blood
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Muscle Proteins / genetics*
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Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
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Protein Precursors / blood
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Protein Precursors / genetics*
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Transcription Factors / blood
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Transcription Factors / genetics*
Substances
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ELOVL2 protein, human
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ELOVL2 protein, mouse
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Enkephalins
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Fhl2 protein, mouse
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Genetic Markers
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LIM-Homeodomain Proteins
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Muscle Proteins
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Protein Precursors
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Transcription Factors
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preproenkephalin
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Acetyltransferases
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Fatty Acid Elongases