• Chronologically young, biologically old:

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 22:30:48
    Chronologically young, biologically old: DNA linked to cancer survivors premature aging

    Date:
    March 22, 2022
    Source:
    St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
    Summary:
    Scientists have identified variants in two genes that are associated
    with accelerated aging in childhood cancer survivors.



    FULL STORY ========================================================================== Scientists from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have identified
    variants in two genes that are associated with accelerated aging in
    childhood cancer survivors. Their research looked at the difference
    between their biological age and chronological age. The study, published
    today in Genome Medicine, is the first to identify genetic risk factors
    for accelerated aging in pediatric cancer survivors.


    ========================================================================== Today a majority of children with cancer in the U.S. survive. However,
    some survivors develop diseases that typically occur in older adults. It
    is not totally clear why some patients are more susceptible to developing age-related conditions than others.

    "This is one of a series of studies my lab has undertaken to investigate
    aging biomarkers in childhood cancer survivors," said corresponding
    author Zhaoming Wang, Ph.D., of the Departments of Epidemiology and
    Cancer Control and Computational Biology. "We previously evaluated
    non-genetic risk factors including cancer treatments, health behaviors,
    and chronic health conditions that contribute to age acceleration. This
    study focuses on the underlying genetic factors among these patients."
    St. Jude follows over 6,000 childhood cancer survivors enrolled in the
    St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study (SJLIFE). As part of SJLIFE, scientists
    have characterized genetic variations by conducting whole-genome
    sequencing (WGS) of survivors' DNA. Wang's group analyzed the link
    between common genetic variants derived from the WGS data with epigenetic
    age acceleration (EAA) in SJLIFE participants. EAA is a measure of the difference between "biological" and chronological age for each survivor,
    and it strongly correlates with the development of age-related diseases.

    Finding the Premature Aging Needle in a Genetic Haystack Wang's group
    found variants in two genomic regions associated with the development
    of accelerated aging. One variant was in the SELP gene and the other in
    the HLA region. These genes are both involved in age-related diseases.

    For example, SELP is upregulated in Alzheimer's disease.

    The scientists found the variants by employing an agnostic Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) approach. In this technique, the researchers
    compare the DNA variants present in survivors and community controls with different levels of biological aging (i.e., EAA). In the 3 billion base
    pair DNA genome, over 8 million variants were tested, and there were
    two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that appeared significantly different between individuals with different levels of biological
    aging. These SNPs in combination with other non-genetic risk factors may
    allow physicians in the future to identify the survivors at higher risk
    of accelerated aging before they develop premature aging symptoms.

    "Our work can help determine subgroups at the highest risk for accelerated aging among childhood cancer survivors," Wang said. "The findings can
    also identify potential drug targets for future invention studies. For
    example, the protein produced by the SELP gene, p-selectin, already has
    an inhibitor used in other diseases." All data analyzed in the paper
    is publicly available for other researchers in the St. Jude Cloud, which provides data and analysis resources to the global research community.

    The study's co-first authors are Qian Dong and Nan Song, both of
    St. Jude. The study's other authors are Cheng Chen, of Shanghai Jiaotong University; Zhenghong Li, Xiaojun Sun, John Easton, Heather Mulder, Emily Plyler, Geoffrey Neale, Emily Walker, Qian Li, Xiaotu Ma, Xiang Chen,
    I-Chan Huang, Yutaka Yasui, Kirsten K. Ness, Jinghui Zhang, Melissa
    M. Hudson, and Leslie L. Robison of St. Jude. The study was funded by
    grants (CA021765 and CA195547) from the National Institutes of Health,
    the V Foundation and ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization
    of St. Jude.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
    St._Jude_Children's_Research_Hospital. Note: Content may be edited for
    style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Qian Dong, Nan Song, Na Qin, Cheng Chen, Zhenghong Li, Xiaojun
    Sun, John
    Easton, Heather Mulder, Emily Plyler, Geoffrey Neale, Emily Walker,
    Qian Li, Xiaotu Ma, Xiang Chen, I-Chan Huang, Yutaka Yasui, Kirsten
    K. Ness, Jinghui Zhang, Melissa M. Hudson, Leslie L. Robison,
    Zhaoming Wang.

    Genome-wide association studies identify novel genetic
    loci for epigenetic age acceleration among survivors
    of childhood cancer. Genome Medicine, 2022; 14 (1) DOI:
    10.1186/s13073-022-01038-6 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220322150847.htm

    --- up 3 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 51 minutes
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  • From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 22:30:46
    Chronologically young, biologically old: DNA linked to cancer survivors premature aging

    Date:
    March 22, 2022
    Source:
    St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
    Summary:
    Scientists have identified variants in two genes that are associated
    with accelerated aging in childhood cancer survivors.



    FULL STORY ========================================================================== Scientists from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have identified
    variants in two genes that are associated with accelerated aging in
    childhood cancer survivors. Their research looked at the difference
    between their biological age and chronological age. The study, published
    today in Genome Medicine, is the first to identify genetic risk factors
    for accelerated aging in pediatric cancer survivors.


    ========================================================================== Today a majority of children with cancer in the U.S. survive. However,
    some survivors develop diseases that typically occur in older adults. It
    is not totally clear why some patients are more susceptible to developing age-related conditions than others.

    "This is one of a series of studies my lab has undertaken to investigate
    aging biomarkers in childhood cancer survivors," said corresponding
    author Zhaoming Wang, Ph.D., of the Departments of Epidemiology and
    Cancer Control and Computational Biology. "We previously evaluated
    non-genetic risk factors including cancer treatments, health behaviors,
    and chronic health conditions that contribute to age acceleration. This
    study focuses on the underlying genetic factors among these patients."
    St. Jude follows over 6,000 childhood cancer survivors enrolled in the
    St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study (SJLIFE). As part of SJLIFE, scientists
    have characterized genetic variations by conducting whole-genome
    sequencing (WGS) of survivors' DNA. Wang's group analyzed the link
    between common genetic variants derived from the WGS data with epigenetic
    age acceleration (EAA) in SJLIFE participants. EAA is a measure of the difference between "biological" and chronological age for each survivor,
    and it strongly correlates with the development of age-related diseases.

    Finding the Premature Aging Needle in a Genetic Haystack Wang's group
    found variants in two genomic regions associated with the development
    of accelerated aging. One variant was in the SELP gene and the other in
    the HLA region. These genes are both involved in age-related diseases.

    For example, SELP is upregulated in Alzheimer's disease.

    The scientists found the variants by employing an agnostic Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) approach. In this technique, the researchers
    compare the DNA variants present in survivors and community controls with different levels of biological aging (i.e., EAA). In the 3 billion base
    pair DNA genome, over 8 million variants were tested, and there were
    two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that appeared significantly different between individuals with different levels of biological
    aging. These SNPs in combination with other non-genetic risk factors may
    allow physicians in the future to identify the survivors at higher risk
    of accelerated aging before they develop premature aging symptoms.

    "Our work can help determine subgroups at the highest risk for accelerated aging among childhood cancer survivors," Wang said. "The findings can
    also identify potential drug targets for future invention studies. For
    example, the protein produced by the SELP gene, p-selectin, already has
    an inhibitor used in other diseases." All data analyzed in the paper
    is publicly available for other researchers in the St. Jude Cloud, which provides data and analysis resources to the global research community.

    The study's co-first authors are Qian Dong and Nan Song, both of
    St. Jude. The study's other authors are Cheng Chen, of Shanghai Jiaotong University; Zhenghong Li, Xiaojun Sun, John Easton, Heather Mulder, Emily Plyler, Geoffrey Neale, Emily Walker, Qian Li, Xiaotu Ma, Xiang Chen,
    I-Chan Huang, Yutaka Yasui, Kirsten K. Ness, Jinghui Zhang, Melissa
    M. Hudson, and Leslie L. Robison of St. Jude. The study was funded by
    grants (CA021765 and CA195547) from the National Institutes of Health,
    the V Foundation and ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization
    of St. Jude.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
    St._Jude_Children's_Research_Hospital. Note: Content may be edited for
    style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Qian Dong, Nan Song, Na Qin, Cheng Chen, Zhenghong Li, Xiaojun
    Sun, John
    Easton, Heather Mulder, Emily Plyler, Geoffrey Neale, Emily Walker,
    Qian Li, Xiaotu Ma, Xiang Chen, I-Chan Huang, Yutaka Yasui, Kirsten
    K. Ness, Jinghui Zhang, Melissa M. Hudson, Leslie L. Robison,
    Zhaoming Wang.

    Genome-wide association studies identify novel genetic
    loci for epigenetic age acceleration among survivors
    of childhood cancer. Genome Medicine, 2022; 14 (1) DOI:
    10.1186/s13073-022-01038-6 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220322122541.htm

    --- up 3 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 51 minutes
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)