The role of the prenatal environment in setting the epigenetic clock (Epi-Clock)

How we age, and how fast, differs considerably between individuals.

This deviation between apparent age and chronological age is often referred to as “biological age” and until recently robust tools for studying biological age have been scarce. “Epigenetic clocks” use predictable changes in the epigenome to estimate chronological age with unprecedented accuracy.

Yet, epigenetic clocks are not only a reflection of chronological age, but even more so, of biological age.

However, an unsolved question in the field is if the prenatal environment influences the setting of the epigenetic clock, and if an accelerated clock early in life is associated with functional deficits already in childhood.

Making use of the data-rich SELMA study, a Swedish mother-child pregnancy cohort providing detailed prospective information on prenatal environmental stress, cognition and behaviour at age 7y of 750 children for which we also have samples from birth and at 7y and 13-years of age for DNAm measurements, we will: Aim 1: Assess the role of prenatal environmental stress in setting the epigenetic clock over a time period of 13-years; Aim 2: Investigate if acceleration or deceleration of the epigenetic clock is associated with cognitive and behavioural outcomes in children at age 7y; Aim 3: Address the role of epigenetic age in meditating associations between prenata stress exposures and cognitive and behavioural outcomes in children.