ePoster

DNA methylation patterns in aging

Alejandro Gonzalez Ramon, Jose Vicente Sánchez-Mut
FENS Forum 2024(2024)
Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center, Vienna, Austria

Conference

FENS Forum 2024

Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center, Vienna, Austria

Resources

Authors & Affiliations

Alejandro Gonzalez Ramon, Jose Vicente Sánchez-Mut

Abstract

Brain aging is a relative process characterized by a progressive decline in homeostasis, stress responses and cognitive functions. At cellular level, it is associated with molecular markers such as telomere length and DNA methylation clocks, which are believed to capture different aspects of relative aging. Additionally, changes in histone modifications and gene transcription also occur. However, a complete description of epigenetic changes in middle- to old-aged brains is still missing. Here, we provide a comprehensive characterization of age-associated DNA methylation changes in the healthy brain between 30 and 90 years of age. Human frontal cortex samples were obtained from the Spanish National Network of Biobanks, NeuN+ cells characterized by enzymatic methyl-seq (EM-seq) and RNA sequencing, and resulting data analyzed using an in-house developed R pipeline. Our results provide an unprecedented resolution of DNA methylation changes through age and remark potential interactions with other epigenetic layers that impact on specific pathways and genes. These findings may pave the way for the development of new therapies to counteract the undesired effects of brain aging.

Unique ID: fens-24/methylation-patterns-aging-152bfa50