Comprehensive longitudinal study of epigenetic mutations in aging.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The role of DNA methylation in aging has been widely studied. However, epigenetic mutations, here defined as aberrant methylation levels compared to the distribution in a population, are less understood. Hence, we investigated longitudinal accumulation of epigenetic mutations, using 994 blood samples collected at up to five time points from 375 individuals in old ages. RESULTS:We verified earlier cross-sectional evidence on the increase of epigenetic mutations with age, and identified important contributing factors including sex, CD19+ B cells, genetic background, cancer diagnosis, and technical artifacts. We further classified epigenetic mutations into High/Low Methylation Outliers (HMO/LMO) according to their changes in methylation, and specifically studied methylation sites (

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6902582 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature