Qigong Institute

Age-related gene expression changes, and transcriptome wide association study of physical and cognitive aging traits, in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936.

Author: Harris SE^1,², Riggio V³, Evenden L⁴, Gilchrist T⁴, McCafferty S⁴, Murphy L⁴, Wrobel N⁴, Taylor AM⁵, Corley J^1,⁵, Pattie A⁵, Cox SR^1,⁵, Martin-Ruiz C⁶, Prendergast J³, Starr JM^1,⁷, Marioni RE^#^1,^2,⁸, Deary IJ^#^1,⁵
Affiliation:
¹Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, UK.
²Medical Genetics Section, University of Edinburgh Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine and MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK.
³The Roslin Institute and R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, EH25 9RG, UK.
⁴Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK.
⁵Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, UK.
⁶Institute for Ageing, Newcastle University, Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5PL, UK.
⁷Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, UK.
⁸Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, QLD, Australia.
^#Contributed equally
Conference/Journal: Aging (Albany NY).
Date published: 2017 Dec 1
Other: Special Notes: doi: 10.18632/aging.101333. [Epub ahead of print] , Word Count: 176

Gene expression is influenced by both genetic variants and the environment. As individuals age, changes in gene expression may be associated with decline in physical and cognitive abilities. We measured transcriptome-wide expression levels in lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from members of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 at mean ages 70 and 76 years. Changes in gene expression levels were identified for 1,741 transcripts in 434 individuals. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis indicated an enrichment of biological processes involved in the immune system. Transcriptome-wide association analysis was performed for eleven cognitive, fitness, and biomedical aging-related traits at age 70 years (N=665 to 781) and with mortality. Transcripts for genes (F2RL3, EMILIN1 and CDC42BPA) previously identified as being differentially methylated or expressed in smoking or smoking-related cancers were overexpressed in smokers compared to non-smokers and the expression of transcripts for genes (HERPUD1, GAB2, FAM167A and GLS) previously associated with stress response, autoimmune disease and cancer were associated with telomere length. No associations between expression levels and other traits, or mortality were identified.

KEYWORDS: cognitive; gene expression; methylation; physical; smoking; telomeres

PMID: 29207374 DOI: 10.18632/aging.101333

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Age-related gene expression changes, and transcriptome wide association study of physical and cognitive aging traits, in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936.