A Blood-Based Molecular Clock for Biological Age Estimation

Abstract

In the last decade, extensive efforts have been made to identify biomarkers of biological age. DNA methylation levels of ELOVL fatty acid elongase 2 (ELOVL2) and the signal joint T-cell receptor rearrangement excision circles (sjTRECs) represent the most promising candidates. Although these two non-redundant biomarkers echo important biological aspects of the ageing process in humans, a well-validated molecular clock exploiting these powerful candidates has not yet been formulated. The present study aimed to develop a more accurate molecular clock in a sample of 194 Italian individuals by re-analyzing the previously obtained EVOLV2 methylation data together with the amount of sjTRECs in the same blood samples. The proposed model showed a high prediction accuracy both in younger individuals with an error of about 2.5 years and in older subjects where a relatively low error was observed if compared with those reported in previously published studies. In conclusion, an easy, cost-effective and reliable model to measure the individual rate and the quality of aging in human population has been proposed. Further studies are required to validate the model and to extend its use in an applicative context.

Keywords

• sjTRECs
• ELOVL2
• age prediction
• epigenetics