Histone mark age of human tissues and cell types | Science Advances

Aging is a complex and multifaceted process involving many epigenetic alterations. One key area of interest in aging research is the role of histone modifications, which can dynamically regulate gene expression. Here, we conducted a pan-tissue analysis of the dynamics of seven key histone modifications during human aging. Our histone-specific age prediction models showed surprisingly accurate performance, proving resilient to experimental and artificial noise. Simulation experiments for comparison with DNA methylation age predictors revealed competitive performance. Moreover, gene set enrichment analysis uncovered several critical developmental pathways for age prediction. Different from DNA methylation age predictors, genes known to be involved in aging biology are among the most important ones for the models. Last, we developed a pan-tissue pan-histone age predictor, suggesting that age-related epigenetic information is degenerated across the epigenome. This research highlights the power of histone marks as input for creating robust age predictors and opens avenues for understanding the role of epigenetic changes during aging.