Transplanted hearts adapt biological age to recipients

heart transplant biological age epigenetic clock DNA methylation organ rejuvenation

A new study suggests that the biological age of a transplanted heart adapts to the age of the recipient rather than remaining fixed to the donor's age. Research led by Jesse Poganik at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, currently available as a preprint on bioRxiv, utilized epigenetic clocks to measure DNA methylation in both mice and human biopsy samples.

In mouse experiments, younger transplanted hearts aged more rapidly when placed in older hosts, while older hearts showed signs of biological rejuvenation in younger recipients. This pattern was corroborated by an analysis of archived human heart transplant biopsies involving significant age gaps between donors and recipients.

Functional metrics, such as exercise capacity and heart rate, also appeared to align more closely with the recipient's age. These findings suggest that the biological environment of the recipient plays a decisive role in determining how a transplanted organ behaves at a molecular level.

Entities

Brigham and Women’s Hospital · Harvard Medical School · Jesse Poganik · Nature · bioRxiv

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.

[● 3 SOURCES] The team analyzed archived biopsies from eleven heart transplantations with large age differences. www.kurierverlag.de · www.hna.de · www.merkur.de
[● 3 SOURCES] Certain measures of heart performance, such as exercise capacity, follow the age of the recipient rather than the donor. www.kurierverlag.de · www.hna.de · www.merkur.de
[● 3 SOURCES] The effects observed in mice were identical to those found in humans. www.kurierverlag.de · www.hna.de · www.merkur.de
[● 3 SOURCES] The study regarding transplanted hearts was reported by Nature. www.kurierverlag.de · www.hna.de · www.merkur.de
[● 3 SOURCES] The biological age of transplanted hearts adjusts to the age of the recipient. www.kurierverlag.de · www.hna.de · www.merkur.de
[● 7 SOURCES] Younger transplants aged faster in older animals, while older transplants became biologically younger in younger hosts. www.kurierverlag.de · www.hna.de · www.merkur.de · ascii.jp · www.fehmarn24.de · +2 more
[● 7 SOURCES] This phenomenon was observed in both mice and human biopsy samples. www.kurierverlag.de · www.hna.de · www.merkur.de · ascii.jp · www.fehmarn24.de · +2 more
[● 9 SOURCES] The findings regarding heart age adaptation were released as a preprint on the bioRxiv server. ascii.jp · www.fehmarn24.de · www.kurierverlag.de · www.sbircialanotizia.it · www.fanpage.it · +4 more
[● 7 SOURCES] Heart performance metrics, including exercise capacity, align with the recipient's age rather than the donor's age. www.fehmarn24.de · www.kurierverlag.de · www.scientificamerican.com · ascii.jp · www.hna.de · +2 more
[● 4 SOURCES] Researchers used epigenetic clocks to measure DNA methylation across approximately 320,000 genomic regions in mice. www.fehmarn24.de · www.kurierverlag.de · www.merkur.de · www.hna.de
[● 6 SOURCES] The study included an analysis of archived human heart transplant biopsies involving significant age gaps between donors and recipients. www.fehmarn24.de · www.kurierverlag.de · www.scientificamerican.com · ascii.jp · www.fanpage.it · +1 more
[● 9 SOURCES] Research led by Jesse Poganik suggests that the biological age of a transplanted heart adapts to the recipient's age. ascii.jp · www.fehmarn24.de · www.kurierverlag.de · www.sbircialanotizia.it · www.fanpage.it · +4 more