title: Blood RNA expression profiles undergo major changes during the seventh decade.
abstract: Genome-wide alterations in RNA expression profiles are age-associated. Yet the rate and temporal pattern of those alterations are poorly understood. We investigated temporal changes in RNA expression profiles in blood from population-based studies using a quadratic regression model. Comparative analysis between two independent studies was carried out after sample-weighting that downsized differences in sample distribution over age between the datasets. We show that age-associated expression profiles are clustered into two major inclinations and transcriptional alternations occur predominantly from the seventh decade onwards. The age-associated genes in blood are enriched in functional groups of the translational machinery and the immune system. The results are highly consistent between the two population-based studies indicating that our analysis overcomes potential confounders in population-based studies. We suggest that the critical age when major transcriptional alterations occur could help understanding aging and disease risk during adulthood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3000 CA, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marius
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gheorghe
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Genomics, Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, 17475 DE, Germany.|The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, Genetics of Obesity and Related Metabolic Traits Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, United States of America.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schurmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3000 CA, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marjolein J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3000 CA, The Netherlands.|Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3000 CA, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: André G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Uitterlinden
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3000 CA, The Netherlands.|Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3000 CA, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Gerodontology and Biomaterials, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, 17475 DE, Germany.
authors.forename: Reiner
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Biffar
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Genomics, Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, 17475 DE, Germany.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Homuth
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Genomics, Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, 17475 DE, Germany.
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Völker
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3000 CA, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Joyce B J
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: van Meurs
authors.affiliation: Department of Human and Clinical Genetics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, 2300 RC, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Vered
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Raz
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics; D066264:Datasets as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012313:RNA / Q000097:blood*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D012313:RNA
keywords: RNA expression profiles; b-spline regression model; blood aging; population based studies; sample weighting