Methylation of ELOVL2 gene as a new epigenetic marker of age

Summary The discovery of biomarkers able to predict biological age of individuals is a crucial goal in aging research. Recently, researchers' attention has turn toward epigenetic markers of aging. Using the I llumina I nfinium H uman M ethylation450 B ead C hip on whole blood DNA from a small cohort of 64 subjects of different ages, we identified 3 regions, the C p G islands of ELOVL 2 , FHL 2, and PENK genes, whose methylation level strongly correlates with age. These results were confirmed by the S equenom's E pi TYPER assay on a larger cohort of 501 subjects from 9 to 99 years, including 7 cord blood samples. Among the 3 genes, ELOVL 2 shows a progressive increase in methylation that begins since the very first stage of life (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.92) and appears to be a very promising biomarker of aging.