Epigenetics insights from perceived facial aging Journal Article


Authors: Vladimir, K.; Perišić, M. M.; Štorga, M.; Mostashari, A.; Khanin, R.
Article Title: Epigenetics insights from perceived facial aging
Abstract: Facial aging is the most visible manifestation of aging. People desire to look younger than others of the same chronological age. Hence, perceived age is often used as a visible marker of aging, while biological age, often estimated by methylation markers, is used as an objective measure of age. Multiple epigenetics-based clocks have been developed for accurate estimation of general biological age and the age of specific organs, including the skin. However, it is not clear whether the epigenetic biomarkers (CpGs) used in these clocks are drivers of aging processes or consequences of aging. In this proof-of-concept study, we integrate data from GWAS on perceived facial aging and EWAS on CpGs measured in blood. By running EW Mendelian randomization, we identify hundreds of putative CpGs that are potentially causal to perceived facial aging with similar numbers of damaging markers that causally drive or accelerate facial aging and protective methylation markers that causally slow down or protect from aging. We further demonstrate that while candidate causal CpGs have little overlap with known epigenetics-based clocks, they affect genes or proteins with known functions in skin aging, such as skin pigmentation, elastin, and collagen levels. Overall, our results suggest that blood methylation markers reflect facial aging processes, and thus can be used to quantify skin aging and develop anti-aging solutions that target the root causes of aging. © 2023, The Author(s).
Keywords: controlled study; human tissue; methylation; genetics; protein function; biological marker; gene expression; skin pigmentation; genome-wide association study; dna methylation; epigenetics; cpg island; epigenesis, genetic; quantitative analysis; collagen; aging; face; genetic epigenesis; skin aging; elastin; cutaneous parameters; proof of concept; mendelian randomization analysis; humans; human; male; female; article; antiaging activity; biological age
Journal Title: Clinical Epigenetics
Volume: 15
ISSN: 1868-7075
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.  
Date Published: 2023-11-03
Start Page: 176
Language: English
DOI: 10.1186/s13148-023-01590-x
PUBMED: 37924108
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC10623707
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Source: Scopus
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  1. Raya Khanin
    46 Khanin