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Epigenetic clock and methylation studies in cats

Raj, K; Szladovits, B; Haghani, A; Zoller, JA; Li, CZ; Black, P; Maddox, D; Robeck, TR; Horvath, S

Authors

K Raj

B Szladovits

A Haghani

JA Zoller

CZ Li

P Black

D Maddox

TR Robeck

S Horvath



Abstract

Human DNA methylation profiles have been used successfully to develop highly accurate biomarkers of aging ("epigenetic clocks"). Although these human epigenetic clocks are not immediately applicable to all species of the animal kingdom, the principles underpinning them appear to be conserved even in animals that are evolutionarily far removed from humans. This is exemplified by recent development of epigenetic clocks for mice and other mammalian species. Here, we describe epigenetic clocks for the domestic cat (Felis catus), based on methylation profiles of CpGs with flanking DNA sequences that are highly conserved between multiple mammalian species. Methylation levels of these CpGs are measured using a custom-designed Infinium array (HorvathMammalMethylChip40). From these, we present 3 epigenetic clocks for cats; of which, one applies only to blood samples from cats, while the remaining two dual-species human-cat clocks apply both to cats and humans. We demonstrate that these domestic cat clocks also lead to high age correlations in cheetahs, tigers, and lions. It is expected that these epigenetic clocks for cats possess the potential to be further developed for monitoring feline health as well as being used for identifying and validating anti-aging interventions.

Citation

Raj, K., Szladovits, B., Haghani, A., Zoller, J., Li, C., Black, P., Maddox, D., Robeck, T., & Horvath, S. (2021). Epigenetic clock and methylation studies in cats. GeroScience, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-021-00445-8

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 17, 2021
Publication Date Aug 31, 2021
Deposit Date Nov 30, 2023
Publicly Available Date Dec 1, 2023
Journal GeroScience
Print ISSN 2509-2715
Electronic ISSN 2509-2723
Publisher Springer
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-021-00445-8
Keywords Cat; Aging; Development; Epigenetic clock; DNA methylation; DNA METHYLATION; BIOLOGICAL AGE; INSTABILITY; HALLMARK; BRAIN; DOG

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