Methylation of ELOVL2 gene as a new epigenetic marker of age.
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.
Department of Experimental Pathology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Paolo
P
Garagnani
Maria G
MG
Bacalini
Chiara
C
Pirazzini
Davide
D
Gori
Cristina
C
Giuliani
Daniela
D
Mari
Anna M
AM
Di Blasio
Davide
D
Gentilini
Giovanni
G
Vitale
Sebastiano
S
Collino
Serge
S
Rezzi
Gastone
G
Castellani
Miriam
M
Capri
Stefano
S
Salvioli
Claudio
C
Franceschi
D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004745:Enkephalins / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D000081031:Fatty Acid Elongases; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry; D005819:Genetic Markers; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D060850:LIM-Homeodomain Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*
C000630967:ELOVL2 protein, human; C000630951:ELOVL2 protein, mouse; D004745:Enkephalins; C491382:Fhl2 protein, mouse; D005819:Genetic Markers; D060850:LIM-Homeodomain Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D011498:Protein Precursors; D014157:Transcription Factors; C033660:preproenkephalin; D000123:Acetyltransferases; D000081031:Fatty Acid Elongases