In the past decade, several machine learning methods have been used to build epigenetic, transcriptomic and other omics-based aging clocks that can predict the biological age of an organism. While these techniques represent powerful approaches to quantify aging and monitor the effectiveness of anti-aging interventions, they come with a variety of technical limitations that can restrict their use in aging research. A study in Communications Biology presents a new approach for quantifying aging in Caenorhabditis elegans by measuring the biophysical properties of NAD(P)H in mitochondria using fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) of endogenous NAD(P)H fluorescence. The researchers identified age-dependent changes to mitochondrial NAD(P)H across tissues in C. elegans and developed mito-NAD(P)H age clocks to predict lifespan. While C. elegans is particularly suitable for this approach, given that the worms are translucent and progress through an entire life cycle in 2–3 weeks, the method could be applied to other model systems to study aging.
Original reference: Morrow, C.S. et al. Commun. Biol. 7, 1551 (2024)
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