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Study Description

We isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 172 community-dwelling healthy volunteers (91 women, 81 men) ages spanning adult lifespan: 54 young (ages 22-40: 23 men, 31 women), 59 middle-aged (ages 41-64: 31 men, 28 women), and 59 older subjects (65+: 27 men, 32 women). PBMCs were profiled using ATAC-seq (54 men, 66 women), RNA-seq (41 men, 34 women), and flow cytometry (62 men, 67 women). Flow cytometry data is publicly available, genomic data for 121 individuals are provided here.

These datasets revealed immune system aging signatures in men and women and showed in which ways aging differentially affects the immune systems of men and women. A subset of these samples have been generated and analyzed previously and can be found at EGA (EGAS00001002605). This dataset on dbGaP include EGA samples as well.

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Publicly Available Data
  Link to other NCBI resources related to this study
Study Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

For older adults 65 years and older, recruitment criteria were selected to identify individuals who are experiencing "usual healthy" aging and are thus representative of the average or typical normal health status of the local population within the corresponding age groups. Subjects were carefully screened in order to exclude potentially confounding diseases and medications, as well as frailty. Individuals who reported chronic or recent (i.e., within two weeks) infections were also excluded. Subjects were deemed ineligible if they reported a history of diseases such as congestive heart failure, ischemic heart disease, myocarditis, congenital abnormalities, Paget's disease, kidney disease, diabetes requiring insulin, chronic obstructive lung disease, emphysema, and asthma. Subjects were also excluded if undergoing active cancer treatment, prednisone above 10 mg day, other immunosuppressive drugs, any medications for rheumatoid arthritis other than NSAIDs or if they had received antibiotics in the previous 6 months. Beyond these steps to exclude specific chronic conditions we also undertook further additional efforts to exclude older adults with any significant frailty. Since declines in self-reported physical performance are highly predictive of frailty, subsequent disability and mortality, all subjects were also questioned as to their ability to walk 1/4 mile (or 2-3 city blocks). For those who self-reported an inability to walk 1/4 mile, the "Timed Up and Go" (TUG) test was performed and measured as the time taken to stand up from the sitting position, walk 10 feet and return to sitting in the chair. Scoring TUG > 10 sec was considered an indication of increased frailty and resulted in exclusion from the study.

Molecular Data
TypeSourcePlatformNumber of Oligos/SNPsSNP Batch IdComment
RNA Sequencing Illumina HiSeq 2500 N/A N/A
ATAC Sequencing Illumina HiSeq 2500 N/A N/A
Selected Publications
Diseases/Traits Related to Study (MeSH terms)
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Study Attribution
  • Principal Investigator
    • Duygu Ucar, PhD. The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
  • Principal Investigators on Clinical aging project
    • George A. Kuchel, MD, FRCP, AGSF. UConn Center on Aging, UConn Health, Farmington, CT, USA.
    • Jacques Banchereau, PhD. The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA.
  • Funding Source
    • R35-GM124922. National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.