A genome-wide scan reveals important roles of DNA methylation in human longevity by regulating age-related disease genes.

ABSTRACT: It is recognized that genetic factors contribute to human longevity. Besides the hypothesis of existence of longevity genes, another suggests that a lower frequency of risk alleles decreases the incidence of age-related diseases in the long-lived people. However, the latter finds no support from recent genetic studies. Considering the crucial role of epigenetic modification in gene regulation, we then hypothesize that suppressing disease-related genes in longevity individuals is likely achieved by epigenetic modification, e.g. DNA methylation. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the genome-wide methylation profile in 4 Chinese female centenarians and 4 middle-aged controls using methyl-DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing. 626 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were observed betwe

SUBMITTER: Xiao FH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4368809 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature