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Inferring chronological age from DNA methylation patterns of human teeth
Author(s) -
Giuliani Cristina,
Cilli Elisabetta,
Bacalini Maria Giulia,
Pirazzini Chiara,
Sazzini Marco,
Gruppioni Giorgio,
Franceschi Claudio,
Garagnani Paolo,
Luiselli Donata
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.22921
Subject(s) - cementum , dna methylation , ancient dna , dentin , biology , pulp (tooth) , dna , methylation , evolutionary biology , genetics , dentistry , epigenetics , gene , computational biology , medicine , gene expression , population , environmental health
Objective Current methods to determine chronological age from modern and ancient remains rely on both morphological and molecular approaches. However, low accuracy and the lack of standardized protocols make the development of alternative methods for the estimation of individual's age even more urgent for several research fields, such as biological anthropology, biodemography, forensics, evolutionary genetics, and ancient DNA studies. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify genomic regions whose DNA methylation level correlates with age in modern teeth. Methods We used MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry to analyze DNA methylation levels of specific CpGs located in the ELOVL2, FHL2 , and PENK genes. We considered methylation data from cementum, dentin and pulp of 21 modern teeth (from 17 to 77 years old) to construct a mathematical model able to exploit DNA methylation values to predict age of the individuals. Results The median difference between the real age and that estimated using DNA methylation values is 1.20 years (SD = 1.9) if DNA is recovered from both cementum and pulp of the same modern teeth, 2.25 years (SD = 2.5) if DNA is recovered from dental pulp, 2.45 years (SD = 3.3) if DNA is extracted from cementum and 7.07 years (SD = 7.0) when DNA is recovered from dentin only. Discussion We propose for the first time the evaluation of DNA methylation at ELOVL2, FHL2 , and PENK genes as a powerful tool to predict age in modern teeth for anthropological applications. Future studies are needed to apply this method also to historical and relatively ancient human teeth. Am J Phys Anthropol 159:585–595, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.