“DNA Methylation Clocks for Dogs and Humans”, Steve Horvath, Ake T. Lu, Amin Haghani, Joseph A. Zoller, Caesar Z. Li, Andrea R. Lim, Robert T. Brooke, Ken Raj, Aitor Serres-Armero, Dayna L. Dreger, Andrew N. Hogan, Jocelyn Plassais, Elaine A. Ostrander2022-05-17 (dog genetics, genome sequencing, epigenetics (aging))⁠:

Epigenetic estimators of age (known as “clocks”) allow one to identify interventions that slow or reverse aging. Previous epigenetic clocks only applied to one species at a time.

Here, we describe epigenetic clocks that apply to both dogs and humans.

These clocks, which measure methylation levels in highly conserved stretches of the DNA, promise to increase the likelihood that interventions that reverse epigenetic age in one species will have the same effect in the other.

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DNA methylation profiles have been used to develop biomarkers of aging known as epigenetic clocks, which predict chronological age with remarkable accuracy and show promise for inferring health status as an indicator of biological age. Epigenetic clocks were first built to monitor human aging, but their underlying principles appear to be evolutionarily conserved, as they have now been successfully developed for many mammalian species.

Here, we describe reliable and highly accurate epigenetic clocks shown to apply to 93 domestic dog breeds. The methylation profiles were generated using the mammalian methylation array, which uses DNA sequences that are conserved across all mammalian species. Canine epigenetic clocks were constructed to estimate age and also average time to death.

We also present 2 highly accurate human-dog dual species epigenetic clocks (r = 0.97), which may facilitate the ready translation from canine to human use (or vice versa) of antiaging treatments being developed for longevity and preventive medicine. Finally, epigenome-wide association studies here reveal individual methylation sites that may underlie the inverse relationship between breed weight and lifespan.

Overall, we describe robust biomarkers to measure aging and, potentially, health status in canines.

See Also:

• Epigenetic clocks: A review

• An open science study of ageing in companion dogs

• DNA methylation age of human tissues and cell types

• Ultra-cheap and scalable epigenetic age predictions with TIME-Seq

• Clock Work: Deconstructing the Epigenetic Clock Signals in Aging, Disease, and Reprogramming

• Rejuvant®, a potential life-extending compound formulation with alpha-ketoglutarate and vitamins, conferred an average 8 year reduction in biological aging, after an average of 7 months of use, in the TruAge DNA methylation test

• Current perspectives on the cellular and molecular features of epigenetic ageing

• TRIIM: Reversal of epigenetic aging and immunosenescent trends in humans

• Reversal of Epigenetic Age with Diet and Lifestyle in a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial