Multi-tissue, multi-time-point transcriptomic atlas of aging in mice and rats [mouse]

In order to get a greater understanding as to the genes and signaling pathways which are up- or down-regulated in a consistent manner throughout the rodent lifespan, we generated a high N age-related gene expression atlas in mice and rats, by profiling 28 tissues in male and female C57BL/6J mice, and 32 tissues in male Sprague Dawley rats (> 5000 samples) over multiple time points. We identified age-related genes and pathways that change either early in life, at mid-age, late in life, or linearly.

Linear genes dominated many but not all tissues, and certain tissues (e.g. gut tissues) were relatively spared from age-related changes. We identified tissues that showed a strong sex bias or species bias. Given the expanse of our transcriptomic dataset, we hope this study will serve as a useful resource for understanding the timing, the tissue-specificity, the gender-specificity, and the species-specificity of age-related gene and pathway changes in male and female mice and male rats.