Genomic and fragmentomic landscapes of cell-free DNA in aging and disease

Genome-wide analyses of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) are beginning to be used for non-invasive disease diagnosis, but these approaches have not been explored for detection of aging-related diseases. We used low coverage whole genome sequencing (1-2x) to assess variation in cfDNA fragmentomes across 1446 individuals of varying ages with different comorbidities and genetic risk profiles. Analysis of cfDNA fragment characteristics revealed changes in overall concentration and size distributions, as well as alterations in genome-wide fragmentation profiles, chromosomal representation, repeat element landscapes, end-positions, and coverage at epigenetic regions in the circulation of aging individuals. cfDNA fragmentome characteristics were uniquely altered in a variety of human morbidities, including vascular, neurologic, and inflammatory diseases, and were independent predictors of patient outcomes in separate prospectively collected discovery (n=570) and validation (n=231) cohorts. cfDNA fragmentome-based analyses detected Alzheimer’s disease in aging individuals with varying germline risk profiles (n=645). These results identify changes in cfDNA fragmentomes in aging populations and highlight the potential of cfDNA liquid biopsies to provide snapshots of an individual’s physiologic state in health and disease.

• Type: Other
• Archive: European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA)