Abstract
The biological markers of aging used to predict physical health status in older people are of great interest. Telomere shortening, which occurs during the process of cell replication, was initially considered a promising biomarker for the prediction of age and age-related outcomes (e.g., diseases, longevity). However, the high instability in detection and low correlation with age-related outcomes limit the extension of telomere length to the field of prediction. Currently, a growing number of studies have shown that dynamic DNA methylation throughout human lifetime exhibits strong correlation with age and age-related outcomes. Indeed, many researchers have built age prediction models with high accuracy based on age-dependent methylation changes in certain CpG loci. For now, DNA methylation based on epigenetic clocks, namely epigenetic or DNA methylation age, serves as a new standard to track chronological age and predict biological age. Measures of age acceleration (Δage, DNA methylation age – chronological age) have been developed to assess the health status of a person. In addition, there is evidence that an accelerated epigenetic age exists in patients with certain age-related diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease). In this review, we provide an overview of the dynamic signatures of DNA methylation during aging and emphasize its practical utility in the prediction of various age-related outcomes.
Highlights
Aging is an inevitable biological process accompanied by progressive decline in physical function and increased risk of multiple age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, and cancer (Sen et al, 2016)
Investigators are still searching for other biomarkers that can be used in the prediction of age-related outcomes with higher accuracy
It is becoming evident that epigenetic clocks based on the dynamic methylation of certain CpG loci during aging are of help in the prediction of chronological and biological age (Figure 2)
Summary
Aging is an inevitable biological process accompanied by progressive decline in physical function and increased risk of multiple age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, and cancer (Sen et al, 2016). Age-dependent changes in DNA methylation include global hypomethylation and region-specific hypermethylation (Xiao et al, 2016). DNA methylation age, evaluated by these predictors, reflects the biological age of a person, which has a close association with individuals’ health status and can be changed by multiple risk factors, such as smoking and obesity (Dugué et al, 2018).
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