Placental epigenetic clocks derived from crowdsourcing: Implications for the study of accelerated aging in obstetrics.

ABSTRACT: Epigenetic gestational age acceleration has been implicated in obstetric syndromes including preeclampsia, yet robust conclusions require accurate and unbiased epigenetic age models. Herein, we curated 1,842 public placental methylomes and organized a DREAM challenge to develop models of gestational age. Participants were blinded to the test data that we generated from 384 placentas encompassing normal and complicated pregnancies. Models developed during and post-challenge compared favorably to existing models in terms of accuracy, yet they were better calibrated throughout gestation and indicated that reports of accelerated epigenetic aging in preterm preeclampsia were likely due to modeling artifacts. The models show that accelerated aging is associated with a decrease in birthweight per

SUBMITTER: Bhatti G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12356336 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature