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Organ-specific proteomic aging clocks predict disease and longevity across diverse populations.
Wang Y, Xiao S, Liu B, Jiang R, Liu Y, Hang Y, Chen L, Chen R, Vitiello MV, Bennett D, Wang B, Lv J, Yu C, Haslam DE, Zheng Q
Nature aging · 2026 · ▲ 4 citations
Abstract
Aging and age-related diseases share convergent pathways at the proteome level. Here, using plasma proteomics and machine learning, we developed organismal and ten organ-specific aging clocks in the UK Biobank (n = 43,616) and validated their high accuracy in cohorts from China (n = 3,977) and the USA (n = 800; cross-cohort r = 0.98 and 0.93). Accelerated organ aging predicted disease onset, progression and mortality beyond clinical and genetic risk factors, with brain aging being most strongly linked to mortality. Organ aging reflected both genetic and environmental determinants: brain aging was associated with lifestyle, the GABBR1 and ECM1 genes, and brain structure. Distinct organ-specific pathogenic pathways were identified, with the brain and artery clocks linking synaptic loss, vascular dysfunction and glial activation to cognitive decline and dementia. The brain aging clock further stratified Alzheimer's disease risk across APOE haplotypes, and a super-youthful brain appears to confer resilience to APOE4. Together, proteomic organ aging clocks provide a biologically interpretable framework for tracking aging and disease risk across diverse populations.
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- Europe PMC
- DOI
- 10.1038/s43587-025-01016-8
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- 2026-07-01 MST
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APA
Y, W., S, X., B, L., R, J., Y, L., Y, H., L, C., R, C., MV, V., D, B., B, W., J, L., C, Y., DE, H., Q, Z., RE, G., Y, B., J, S., J, X., & L, L. (2026). Organ-specific proteomic aging clocks predict disease and longevity across diverse populations. <em>Nature aging</em>. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-025-01016-8
Vancouver
Y W, S X, B L, R J, Y L, Y H, et al. Organ-specific proteomic aging clocks predict disease and longevity across diverse populations. Nature aging. 2026. doi:10.1038/s43587-025-01016-8.
BibTeX
@article{wang2026Organs,
title = {Organ-specific proteomic aging clocks predict disease and longevity across diverse populations.},
author = {Wang Y and Xiao S and Liu B and Jiang R and Liu Y and Hang Y and Chen L and Chen R and Vitiello MV and Bennett D and Wang B and Lv J and Yu C and Haslam DE and Zheng Q and Gerszten RE and Bao Y and Shi J and Xie J and Lu L and Li L and van Duijn CM and Wang DD and Chen Z and Chan AT.},
journal = {Nature aging},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1038/s43587-025-01016-8},
}
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