Premium
Predicting human age by detecting DNA methylation status in hair
Author(s) -
Hao Ting,
Guo Jiangling,
Liu Jinding,
Wang Jiaqi,
Liu Zidong,
Cheng Xiaojuan,
Li Jintao,
Ren Jianbo,
Li Zeqin,
Yan Jiangwei,
Zhang Gengqian
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/elps.202000349
Subject(s) - methylation , dna methylation , cpg site , biology , hair follicle , physiology , scalp , genetics , evolutionary biology , dna , gene , endocrinology , anatomy , gene expression
Age prediction is of great importance for criminal investigation and judicial expertise. DNA methylation status is considered a promising method to infer tissue age by virtue of age‐dependent changes on methylation sites. In recent years, forensic scientists have established various models to predict the chronological age of blood, saliva, and semen based on DNA methylation status. However, hair‐inferred age has not been studied in the field of forensic science. In this study, we measured the methylation statuses of potential age‐related CpG sites by using the multiplex methylation SNaPshot method. A total of 10 CpG sites from the LAG3 , SCGN , ELOVL2 , KLF14 , C1orf132 , SLC12A5 , GRIA2 , and PDE4C genes were found to be tightly associated with age in hair follicles. A correlation coefficient above 0.7 was found for four CpG sites (cg24724428 and Chr6:11044628 in ELOVL2 , cg25148589 in GRIA2 , and cg07547549 in SLC12A5 ). Among four age‐prediction models, the multiple linear regression model consisting of 10 CpG sites provided the best‐fitting results, with a median absolute deviation of 3.68 years. It is feasible to obtain both human identification and age information from a single scalp hair follicle. No significant differences in methylation degree were found between different sexes, hair types, or hair colors. In conclusion, we established a method to evaluate chronological age by assessing DNA methylation status in hair follicles.