Authors: Shao Hua Yi Yun Shu Jia Kun Mei Rong Zhi Yang Dai Xin Huang
Publish Date: 2014/11/16
Volume: 129, Issue: 2, Pages: 237-244
Abstract
There is no available method of ageprediction for biological samples The accumulating evidences indicate that DNA methylation patterns change with age Aging resembles a developmentally regulated process that is tightly controlled by specific epigenetic modifications and ageassociated methylation changes exist in human genome In this study three agerelated methylation fragments were isolated and identified in blood of 40 donors Agerelated methylation changes with each fragment was validated and replicated in a general population sample of 65 donors over a wide age range 11–72 years Methylation of these fragments is linearly correlated with age over a range of six decades r = 080–088 Using average methylation of CpG sites of three fragments a regression model that explained 95 of the variance in age was built and is able to predict an individual’s age with great accuracy R 2 = 093 The predicted value is highly correlated with the observed age in the sample r = 096 and has great accuracy of average 4 years difference between predicted age and true age This study implicates that DNA methylation can be an available biological marker of ageprediction Further measurement of relevant markers in the genome could be a tool in routine screening to predict age of forensic biological samplesThis research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Nos 30772291 81373250 and 81202386 the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province No 2010CDB03201 and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities HUST Nos 2011JC050 and 2013TS111
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