Identification of replicative aging and inflammatory aging signatures via whole-genome CRISPRi screens

Background: Aging is a major risk factor for chronic diseases and cancer. Cellular aging, particularly in adult stem cells, offers a high-throughput framework for dissecting the molecular mechanisms of aging. Results: We perform multiple genome-wide CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) screenings in human primary mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue during either replicative senescence or inflammation-induced senescence. These screens reveal distinct sets of potential novel regulators specific to each senescence pathway. Combining our perturbation-based functional genomic data with 405 genome-wide association study datasets, including 50 aging-related studies, we find that the inflammatory aging signatures identified from CRISPRi screenings are significantly associated with diverse aging processes, suggesting novel molecular signatures for analyzing and predicting aging status and aging-related disease. Conclusions: The signatures verified through comprehensive functional genomics and genetic analyses may provide new targets for modulating the aging process and enhancing the quality of cell therapy products.