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Updated: Jun 23, 2026
10:59
Visualizing and Quantifying Endonuclease-Based Site-Specific DNA Damage
Published on: August 21, 2021
The ageing epigenome: damaged beyond repair?
David A Sinclair1, Philipp Oberdoerffer
1The Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for the Biological Mechanisms of Ageing, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. David_Sinclair@hms.harvard.edu
Ageing Research Reviews
|May 15, 2009
Summary
DNA damage is a key theory of aging. While DNA mutations are permanent, the resulting epigenetic changes and cellular dysfunction linked to aging may be reversible.
Area of Science:
- Genetics and Molecular Biology
- Cellular Biology
- Gerontology
Background:
- DNA damage is a leading theory of aging, distinct from other cellular damage due to its permanence.
- Accumulated DNA errors lead to altered RNA and protein sequences, cellular senescence, and organ dysfunction.
- Genomic instability and DNA damage play a significant role in the aging process.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discuss the link between DNA damage, chromatin alterations, and aging.
- To explore how DNA damage contributes to predictable phenotypic changes associated with aging.
- To investigate the potential reversibility of age-related changes induced by DNA damage.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing research on DNA damage and aging.
- Analysis of the relationship between DNA repair processes and epigenetic modifications.
- Exploration of chromatin alterations in the context of aging and DNA damage.
Main Results:
- DNA damage and repair can induce genome-wide epigenetic changes.
- These epigenetic changes are linked to age-related transcriptional and functional alterations.
- The interplay between DNA damage, chromatin, and aging explains predictable phenotypic changes.
Conclusions:
- DNA damage contributes to aging through permanent mutations and reversible epigenetic modifications.
- Chromatin alterations mediate the link between DNA damage and age-related phenotypic changes.
- The epigenetic consequences of DNA damage offer potential targets for reversing aspects of aging.
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