Aging-associated distinctive DNA methylation changes of LINE-1 retrotransposons in pure cell-free DNA from human blood
Abstract LINE-1 hypomethylation of cell-free DNA has been described as an epigenetic biomarker of human aging. However, in the past, insufficient differentiation between cellular and cell-free DNA may have confounded analyses of genome-wide methylation levels in aging cells. Here we present a new me...
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doaj-9945070da77641ddb99a7d48f519ce432020-12-20T12:32:15ZengNature Publishing GroupScientific Reports2045-23222020-12-0110111210.1038/s41598-020-79126-zAging-associated distinctive DNA methylation changes of LINE-1 retrotransposons in pure cell-free DNA from human bloodWardah Mahmood0Lars Erichsen1Pauline Ott2Wolfgang A. Schulz3Johannes C. Fischer4Marcos J. Arauzo-Bravo5Marcelo L. Bendhack6Mohamed Hassan7Simeon Santourlidis8Epigenetics Core Laboratory, Institute of Transplantation Diagnostics and Cell Therapeutics, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University DuesseldorfEpigenetics Core Laboratory, Institute of Transplantation Diagnostics and Cell Therapeutics, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University DuesseldorfEpigenetics Core Laboratory, Institute of Transplantation Diagnostics and Cell Therapeutics, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University DuesseldorfDepartment of Urology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine UniversityInstitute of Transplantation Diagnostics and Cell Therapeutics, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University DuesseldorfGroup of Computational Biology and Systems Biomedicine, Biodonostia Health Research InstituteDepartment of Urology, University Hospital, Positivo UniversityDepartment of Surgery, Tulane University School of MedicineEpigenetics Core Laboratory, Institute of Transplantation Diagnostics and Cell Therapeutics, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine University DuesseldorfAbstract LINE-1 hypomethylation of cell-free DNA has been described as an epigenetic biomarker of human aging. However, in the past, insufficient differentiation between cellular and cell-free DNA may have confounded analyses of genome-wide methylation levels in aging cells. Here we present a new methodological strategy to properly and unambiguously extract DNA methylation patterns of repetitive, as well as single genetic loci from pure cell-free DNA from peripheral blood. Since this nucleic acid fraction originates mainly in apoptotic, senescent and cancerous cells, this approach allows efficient analysis of aged and cancerous cell-specific DNA methylation patterns for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Using this methodology, we observe a significant age-associated erosion of LINE-1 methylation in cfDNA suggesting that the threshold of hypomethylation sufficient for relevant LINE-1 activation and consequential harmful retrotransposition might be reached at higher age. We speculate that this process might contribute to making aging the main risk factor for many cancers.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79126-z |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Wardah Mahmood Lars Erichsen Pauline Ott Wolfgang A. Schulz Johannes C. Fischer Marcos J. Arauzo-Bravo Marcelo L. Bendhack Mohamed Hassan Simeon Santourlidis |
spellingShingle |
Wardah Mahmood Lars Erichsen Pauline Ott Wolfgang A. Schulz Johannes C. Fischer Marcos J. Arauzo-Bravo Marcelo L. Bendhack Mohamed Hassan Simeon Santourlidis Aging-associated distinctive DNA methylation changes of LINE-1 retrotransposons in pure cell-free DNA from human blood Scientific Reports |
author_facet |
Wardah Mahmood Lars Erichsen Pauline Ott Wolfgang A. Schulz Johannes C. Fischer Marcos J. Arauzo-Bravo Marcelo L. Bendhack Mohamed Hassan Simeon Santourlidis |
author_sort |
Wardah Mahmood |
title |
Aging-associated distinctive DNA methylation changes of LINE-1 retrotransposons in pure cell-free DNA from human blood |
title_short |
Aging-associated distinctive DNA methylation changes of LINE-1 retrotransposons in pure cell-free DNA from human blood |
title_full |
Aging-associated distinctive DNA methylation changes of LINE-1 retrotransposons in pure cell-free DNA from human blood |
title_fullStr |
Aging-associated distinctive DNA methylation changes of LINE-1 retrotransposons in pure cell-free DNA from human blood |
title_full_unstemmed |
Aging-associated distinctive DNA methylation changes of LINE-1 retrotransposons in pure cell-free DNA from human blood |
title_sort |
aging-associated distinctive dna methylation changes of line-1 retrotransposons in pure cell-free dna from human blood |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
series |
Scientific Reports |
issn |
2045-2322 |
publishDate |
2020-12-01 |
description |
Abstract LINE-1 hypomethylation of cell-free DNA has been described as an epigenetic biomarker of human aging. However, in the past, insufficient differentiation between cellular and cell-free DNA may have confounded analyses of genome-wide methylation levels in aging cells. Here we present a new methodological strategy to properly and unambiguously extract DNA methylation patterns of repetitive, as well as single genetic loci from pure cell-free DNA from peripheral blood. Since this nucleic acid fraction originates mainly in apoptotic, senescent and cancerous cells, this approach allows efficient analysis of aged and cancerous cell-specific DNA methylation patterns for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Using this methodology, we observe a significant age-associated erosion of LINE-1 methylation in cfDNA suggesting that the threshold of hypomethylation sufficient for relevant LINE-1 activation and consequential harmful retrotransposition might be reached at higher age. We speculate that this process might contribute to making aging the main risk factor for many cancers. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79126-z |
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