2023 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
The Development of Age Estimation Model for Unidentified Individuals Based on Mitochondrial DNA Methylation Changes
| Project/Area Number |
22KJ0206
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Institution | Tohoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
GUAN XUETING 東北大学, 医学系研究科, 特別研究員(DC1)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2023-03-08 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | Age estimation / Forensic epigenetics / DNA methylation / Mitochondrial analysis |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
During this year, the main goal of this project was to identify the significant age-related CpG sites at the whole genome scale for both bone and whole samples. A total number of 16 donors, aged from 22 to 78 years, were analyzed by Illumina EPIC microarray, and nine CpG probes showed a significant correlation with aging in both types of samples. Among these CpG probes, the best-correlated CpG probe in 16 whole blood samples was cg18826637 with a Pearson's correlation(R) of -0.942 (R: 0.844, P-value: 5.26e-08), and the best-correlated CpG probe was cg10543947 in 16 bone samples (P-value: 3.97e-05).To reduce the cost of Microarray, a novel method called methylation-sensitive(MS) SNaPShot assay was also applied to identify the consistency of measuring DNA methylation levels using different methods. This suggests that SNaPShot assay can be an alternative method in forensic research. Due to the limited availability of bone samples, 16 whole blood samples from the EPIC Microarray were initially analyzed by MS-SNaPShot assay at the cg18826637, showing a high correlation between two methods (R: 0.958, P-value:5.24e-09). With another 16 donors(20-76 years of age), cg18826637 showed a strong correlation with aging(R: -0.912, P-value: 8.47e-07). The manuscript based on mitochondrial DNA methylation and aging was submitted to the journal Forensic Science International: Reports and is currently under review. The manuscript based on genomic age-related CpG probes is preparing and expected to submit to the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics by June, 2024.
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