Multi-Omic Analysis Reveals Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Geriatric Health Decline

A team of researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University has conducted a comprehensive multi-omics analysis to unravel the molecular dynamics of aging. By analyzing 400 tissue samples from 10 organs in mice at four different life stages, the study aimed to investigate the systemic mechanisms governing both inter-organ interactions and organ-specific aging trajectories. The findings provide valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying geriatric health decline and reveal both intra- and inter-organ similarities and heterogeneities.

Key Takeaways:

• The study identified 14,763 protein groups, with 18 proteins exhibiting consistent age-related differential expression patterns across all ten organs.
• Functional enrichment analysis highlighted the humoral immune response as a primary driver of age-related expression changes.
• The study mapped a set of age-unique proteins, such as Hp, Egf, and Arg, with distinct expression patterns in aging organs.
• Metabolic analysis identified 3779 metabolites, with key aging-related metabolites showing significant expression changes across multiple organs.
• Pathway enrichment analysis revealed consistent alterations in purine metabolism, pyrimidine metabolism, riboflavin metabolism, and nicotinate/nicotinamide metabolism during multi-organ aging.
• The research concluded that the findings offer valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying geriatric health decline and serve as a foundational resource for organism-systematic early warning and targeted interventions against aging-associated pathologies.
• Zhixiao Xu and colleagues from Shanghai Jiao Tong University conducted the research, with additional authors including Qingwen Wang, Xinwen Ding, Aiting Wang, Sunfengda Song, Shuang Zhang, Youming Chen, Yi Ding, Lai Jiang, and Xianting Ding.

Statistics:

• 14,763 protein groups were identified through proteomic profiling across ten organs at four age stages.
• 18 proteins, including Ighm, C4b, and Hpx, exhibited consistent age-related differential expression patterns across all ten organs.
• 3779 metabolites were identified through metabolic analysis, with key aging-related metabolites showing significant expression changes across multiple organs.
• 100% of the mouse organs (brain, heart, intestine, kidney, liver, lung, muscle, skin, spleen, and stomach) were analyzed through this multi-omics study.

Sources:

• "Ten mouse organs proteome and metabolome atlas from adult to aging." Genome Medicine 17(1):116, 2025. Genome Medicine can be contacted at: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England. (BioMed Central - www.biomedcentral.com; Genome Medicine - genomemedicine.com)
• "Findings in Proteome Reported from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Ten mouse organs proteome and metabolome atlas from adult to aging)." Life Science Weekly. October 21, 2025; p 1433.