Transcriptome analysis of cynomolgus macaques throughout their lifespan reveals age-related immune patterns

Abstract

Abstract Despite the different perspectives by diverse research sectors spanning several decades, aging research remains uncharted territory for human beings. Therefore, we investigated the transcriptomic characteristics across the entire lifespan of laboratory monkeys, meticulously shielded from all environmental factors except aging. The results showed recent findings of certain immune response and the age-associated network of primate immunity. Three important aging patterns were identified and each gene clusters represented a different immune response. The increased pattern was predominantly associated with innate immunity whereas the other two decreased patterns were associated with adaptive immunity. Furthermore, the hub gene network of the patterns reflected transcriptomic age and correlated with human illness status, aiding in future human disease prediction. Our macaque transcriptome profiling results offer systematic insights into the age-related immunological features of primates.