Age and poverty status alter the coding and noncoding transcriptome [White]

Emerging evidence indicates that noncoding RNAs play important regulatory roles during aging and the development of chronic disease. The functional roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in physiology and disease are under intense examination. However, little is known about lncRNAs in the context of human aging and socio-environmental conditions. Microarray profiling of lncRNAs and mRNAs in young and old white and African American (AA) males living above or below poverty revealed robust changes in both lncRNAs and mRNAs with age and poverty status in white males, but not in AA males. We validated the changes in lncRNAs in an expanded cohort; CDT-3247F14.2, GAS5, H19, TERC and MEG3 changed significantly with age, whereas AK022914, GAS5, KB-1047C11.2, MEG3 and XLOC_003262 changed significantly with poverty. Pathway analysis revealed that mitochondrial function and response to DNA damage and stress were enriched in younger individuals. Pathways of response to stress, viral infection, and immune signals were enriched in individuals living above poverty. These data show that both human age and a marker of social adversity influence lncRNA expression patterns. These data may provide insight into the molecular pathways underlying aging and social factors that affect disparities in aging and disease. Long noncoding RNAs and mRNAs were analyzed by microarray from PBMCs from young (~30 yrs, n=8) and old (~64, n=8) white males above and below poverty.