Human aging DNA methylation signatures are conserved but accelerated in cultured fibroblasts.

ABSTRACT: Aging is associated with progressive and site-specific changes in DNA methylation (DNAm). These global changes are captured by DNAm clocks that accurately predict chronological age in humans but relatively little is known about how clocks perform in vitro. Here we culture primary human fibroblasts across the cellular lifespan (~6 months) and use four different DNAm clocks to show that age-related DNAm signatures are conserved and accelerated in vitro. The Skin & Blood clock shows the best linear correlation with chronological time (r = 0.90), including during replicative senescence. Although similar in nature, the rate of epigenetic aging is approximately 62x times faster in cultured cells than in the human body. Consistent with in vivo data, cells aged under hyperglyc

SUBMITTER: Sturm G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6691995 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature