为了研究衰老过程中全生物体的细胞改变和表观基因组动力学，研究团队构建了一个单细胞染色质可及性图谱，涵盖了三个年龄组和两性的21个小鼠组织。小组发现大约四分之一的536种器官特异性细胞类型和1828种细粒亚型表现出相当大的年龄相关的群体变化。来自广泛分布谱系的细胞状态显示出与年龄同步的动态，表明协调这些变化的系统信号。分子分析确定了这些变化背后的内在调节因子（染色质峰，转录因子活性）和外在因素（细胞因子程序）。
此外，约40%的老龄化相关种群动态是性别依赖的，数万个峰值仅在一种性别中发生了变化。总之，这些发现为衰老如何在不同组织中重塑染色质景观和细胞组成提供了一个全面的框架。
附：英文原文
Title: Organism-wide cellular dynamics and epigenomic remodeling in mammalian aging
Author: Ziyu Lu, Zehao Zhang, Zihan Xu, Abdulraouf Abdulraouf, Wei Zhou, Junyue Cao
Issue&Volume: 2026-02-26
Abstract: To investigate organism-wide cellular alterations and epigenomic dynamics during aging, we constructed a single-cell chromatin accessibility atlas spanning 21 mouse tissues across three age groups and both sexes. We found that around one-quarter of 536 organ-specific cell types and 1828 finer-grained subtypes exhibited considerable age-related population shifts. Cellular states from broadly distributed lineages displayed synchronized dynamics with age, indicating systemic signals that coordinate these changes. Molecular analyses identified both intrinsic regulators (chromatin peaks, transcription factor activity) and extrinsic factors (cytokine programs) underlying these shifts. Moreover, ~40% of aging-associated population dynamics were sex-dependent, with tens of thousands of peaks altered exclusively in one sex. Together, these findings present a comprehensive framework for how aging reshapes the chromatin landscape and cellular composition across diverse tissues.
DOI: adw6273
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw6273