Age‐Associated Changes in Endothelial Transcriptome and Epigenetic Landscapes Correlate With Elevated Risk of Cerebral Microbleeds

BACKGROUND: Stroke is a leading global cause of human death and disability, with advanced aging associated with elevated incidences of stroke. Despite high mortality and morbidity of stroke, the mechanisms leading to blood‐brain barrier dysfunction and development of stroke with age are poorly understood. In the vasculature of brain, endothelial cells (ECs) constitute the core component of the blood‐brain barrier and provide a physical barrier composed of tight junctions, adherens junctions, and basement membrane. METHODS AND RESULTS: We show, in mice, the incidents of intracerebral bleeding increases with age. After isolating an enriched population of cerebral ECs from murine brains at 2, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, we studied age‐associated changes in gene expression. The study reveals age‐dependent dysregulation of 1388 genes, including many involved in the maintenance of the blood‐brain barrier and vascular integrity. We also investigated age‐dependent changes on the levels of CpG methylation and accessible chromatin in cerebral ECs. Our study reveals correlations between age‐dependent changes in chromatin structure and gene expression, whereas the dynamics of DNA methylation changes are different. CONCLUSIONS: We find significant age‐dependent downregulation of the Aplnr gene along with age‐dependent reduction in chromatin accessibility of promoter region of the Aplnr gene in cerebral ECs. Aplnr is associated with positive regulation of vasodilation and is implicated in vascular health. Altogether, our data suggest a potential role of the apelinergic axis involving the ligand apelin and its receptor to be critical in maintenance of the blood‐brain barrier and vascular integrity.