Mouse aging cell atlas analysis reveals global and cell type-specific aging signatures

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Molecular Biology
• Genomics

Background:

• Aging involves complex, poorly understood molecular and cellular changes.
• Systematic characterization of aging at the cellular level is crucial for understanding age-related diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically characterize gene expression changes during aging across diverse mouse cell types.
• To identify shared and tissue-specific molecular signatures of aging.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Tabula Muris Senis single-cell RNA sequencing dataset.
• Analyzed gene expression in 76 tissue-cell types from 23 mouse tissues.
• Scored cells based on shared aging genes to assess transcriptomic aging status.

Main Results:

• Identified aging-dependent genes across 76 tissue-cell types.
• Discovered coordinated, congruent expression changes in shared aging genes across multiple tissues.
• Characterized tissue-cell-specific aging gene expression patterns.

Conclusions:

• Aging exhibits coordinated global molecular behavior at the organismal level.
• Provides a comprehensive molecular atlas of aging across mammalian tissue-cell types.
• Offers insights into the transcriptomic landscape of aging for future research.