RNA version patterns linked to age in adult human brains
An analysis of adult human brain RNA data found age-linked patterns in the mix of RNA versions that persisted after accounting for each gene’s total RNA amount.
In adult human brain RNA data from BrainSEQ and GTEx, researchers used a computational analysis to examine patterns associated with age. Genes can produce different RNA versions. The researchers developed IsoGraph, a framework that grouped genes by shared patterns in the proportions of these versions, separately from each gene’s total RNA amount.
Age-associated patterns in RNA versions remained after accounting for total RNA amounts. They also persisted after adjustment for estimated proportions of different cell types, but this depended on the brain region. Measures based on the gene groups retained age associations across datasets, even when the groups did not contain exactly the same genes. Several independent analyses supported the individual RNA-version events.
Why it matters
The work addresses whether studying the mix of RNA versions adds information about brain aging beyond measuring overall gene activity.
Caveats
The age associations came from analyses of existing RNA datasets, not an experiment testing cause and effect. This preprint has not yet been peer-reviewed.
The paper
IsoGraph resolves coordinated transcript choice and gene abundance in the aging human brain
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
bioRxiv, 11 Oct 2026, CC BY, Preprint, not peer-reviewed
