Open AccessCell‐free DNA as a biomarker of aging
Author(s) -
Teo Yee Voan,
Capri Miriam,
Morsiani Cristina,
Pizza Grazia,
Faria Ana Maria Caetano,
Franceschi Claudio,
Neretti Nicola
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
aging cell
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1474-9726
pISSN - 1474-9718
DOI - 10.1111/acel.12890
Subject(s) - biology , epigenome , heterochromatin , chromatin , cell free fetal dna , retrotransposon , biomarker , nucleosome , genetics , dna , microbiology and biotechnology , computational biology , dna methylation , genome , gene , gene expression , transposable element , prenatal diagnosis , pregnancy , fetus
Cell‐free DNA (cfDNA) is present in the circulating plasma and other body fluids and is known to originate mainly from apoptotic cells. Here, we provide the first in vivo evidence of global and local chromatin changes in human aging by analyzing cfDNA from the blood of individuals of different age groups. Our results show that nucleosome signals inferred from cfDNA are consistent with the redistribution of heterochromatin observed in cellular senescence and aging in other model systems. In addition, we detected a relative cfDNA loss at several genomic locations, such as transcription start and termination sites, 5′UTR of L1HS retrotransposons and dimeric AluY elements with age. Our results also revealed age and deteriorating health status correlate with increased enrichment of signals from cells in different tissues. In conclusion, our results show that the sequencing of circulating cfDNA from human blood plasma can be used as a noninvasive methodology to study age‐associated changes to the epigenome in vivo.