Age-related epigenetic drift and phenotypic plasticity loss: implications in prevention of age-related human diseases

Aging is considered as one of the most important developmental processes in organisms and is closely associated with global deteriorations of epigenetic markers such as aberrant methylomic patterns. This altered epigenomic state, referred to ‘epigenetic drift’, reflects deficient maintenance of epigenetic marks and contributes to impaired cellular and molecular functions in aged cells. Epigenetic drift-induced abnormal changes during aging are scantily repaired by epigenetic modulators. This inflexibility in the aged epigenome may lead to an age-related decline in phenotypic plasticity at the cellular and molecular levels due to epigenetic drift. This perspective aims to provide novel concepts for understanding epigenetic effects on the aging process and to provide insights into epigenetic prevention and therapeutic strategies for age-related human disease.