Methylation-Based Age Estimation Model Construction and Its Effectiveness Evaluation / 法医学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES@#To screen the DNA methylation loci associated with the age of Han males in northern China and to construct an age estimation model.@*METHODS@#Twenty-one candidate methylation loci were screened. The DNA methylation levels of 476 blood samples from Chinese Han males were detected for 21 amplicons using EpiTYPER technology platform, and data on 153 DNA methylation loci were obtained.@*RESULTS@#After correlation analysis, 8 age-related DNA methylation loci were finally screened. CpG1, CpG2, CpG4, CpG7, CpG8 were located on TRIM59, RASSF5, Clorf132, CSNK1D, ELOVL2,CpG5, CpG6 on PDE4C, and CpG3 on chr17:21452808. Based on the 8 loci, 352 samples were used for model construction. A multivariate linear regression age estimation model was constructed （R2=0.93）, with mean absolute deviation （MAD） of 2.69 years old. When 109 samples were used for model validation, the MAD was 3.80 years old. The test was repeated 3 times in 15 new samples, with MADs of 4.08, 4.68 and 3.93 years old, respectively.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The age estimation model on Han males in northern China constructed in this study can be used to estimate the age of victims and suspects and to narrow the scope of investigation, and therefore has practical application value.