Single-cell epigenome analysis reveals age-associated decay of heterochromatin domains in excitatory neurons in the mouse brain.

ABSTRACT: Loss of heterochromatin has been implicated as a cause of pre-mature aging and age-associated decline in organ functions in mammals; however, the specific cell types and gene loci affected by this type of epigenetic change have remained unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we probed chromatin accessibility at single-cell resolution in the brains, hearts, skeletal muscles, and bone marrows from young, middle-aged, and old mice, and assessed age-associated changes at 353,126 candidate cis-regulatory elements (cCREs) across 32 major cell types. Unexpectedly, we detected increased chromatin accessibility within specific heterochromatin domains in old mouse excitatory neurons. The gain of chromatin accessibility at these genomic loci was accompanied by the cell-type-specific loss of heteroch

SUBMITTER: Zhang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9652396 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature