Organ Specificity and Commonality of Epigenetic Aging in Low- and High-Running Capacity Rats

Epigenetic drift, which is gradual age-related changes in DNA methylation patterns, plays a significant role in aging and age-related diseases. However, the relationship between exercise, epigenetics, and aging, and the molecular mechanisms underlying their interactions are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), epigenetic aging, and promoter methylation of individual genes across multiple organs in selectively bred low- and high-capacity runner (LCR and HCR) aged rats. Epigenetic clocks, trained on available rat blood-derived reduced representation bisulfite sequencing data, did not reflect differences in CRF between LCR and HCR rats across all four organs. However, we observed organ-specific differences in global mean DNA methylation and mean methylation entropy between LCR and HCR rats, and the direction of these differences was the opposite compared to the age-related changes in the rat blood. Notably, the soleus muscle exhibited the most pronounced differences in promoter methylation due to CRF. We also identified seven genes whose promoter methylation was consistently influenced by CRF in all four organs. Moreover, we found that age acceleration of the soleus muscle was significantly higher compared to the heart and the hippocampus, and significantly lower compared to the large intestine. Finally, we found that the age acceleration was not consistent across organs. Our data suggest that CRF associates with epigenetic aging in an organ-specific and organ-common manner. Our findings provide important insights into the biology of aging and emphasize the need to validate rejuvenation strategies in the context of the organ-specific nature of epigenetic aging.