Age-related methylation changes of equine white blood cells

Horses belong to the one of the longest-living species of farm animals. Advanced age in horses is mainly associated with a decrease in body condition and dysfunction of immune system. Due to this the search for new solutions in the prevention and treatment of pathological conditions of the advanced age in this farm animal species are desirable. Identification of ageing-related changes in the horse genome is interesting in this respect. The recent research on aging includes the study of age-related epigenetic marks using methylome data. In order to find molecular pathways involved in the horse aging we have conducted methylome studies of blood leukocytes including groups of juvenile and aged horses of the primitive Hucul breed. Genes associated with identified DMR sites are the members of pathways involved in cellular signal transduction, immune response, neurogenesis, differentiation and development, and cancer progression. Age-related methylation state of particular loci were consistent with their transcriptional activity in equine blood leukocytes. Obtained results contribute to the knowledge about molecular basis of aging of equine blood cells. Overall design: White blood cells of two experimental groups (6 replicates in each group) were the subject of reduced representation bisulfite sequencing. The expression of selected differentially methylated genes were checked using realtime PCR.