A targeted epigenetic clock for simultaneous assessment of biological aging and cancer-associated methylation drift.

BACKGROUND: As a key tool for assessing aging, DNA methylation clocks are mostly constructed based on European and American populations and rely on the high-cost Infinium MethylationEPIC microarray. These factors limit their widespread application in the Chinese population. METHODS: This study included two independent cohorts: the Fuyang cohort (n = 610, age range 2-89 years) for model development, and the Hefei cohort (n = 188, age range 15-86 years) for external validation. Using a multiplex PCR-based targeted capture sequencing technology, we examined 74 CpG sites located in seven age-associated genes, including ELOVL2, FHL2, C1orf132, KLF14, TRIM59, CCDC102B and PDE4C, to construct a DNA methylation-based age prediction model suitable for the Chinese population. RESULTS: The performance of our model was consistent with that reported in the literature for this field. In the Fuyang cohort, the training set achieved R CONCLUSION: This study developed a cost-effective, targeted methylation clock for the full age spectrum in the Chinese population. Its strong response to both physiological aging and tumor status underscores its potential for large-scale aging assessment and for translational applications.