German longevity study reveals novel rare pro-longevity alleles clustering in mTOR signaling pathway
In this study, we investigated the contribution of rare coding variants to human longevity by analyzing whole exome sequencing data from 1245 German long-lived individuals (LLI) and 4105 geographically matched younger controls. We identified novel exome-wide significant associations at both the single-variant and gene level, with a significant over-representation of genes involved in mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling. As such, three rare single variants in the mTOR-pathway genes RPS6, FLCN, and SIK3 were enriched in LLI. Additionally, RWDD1 emerged as a strong candidate gene for longevity, with LLI exhibiting a statistically significant burden of rare missense variants in this gene. Other associations involved PRAC2, SLC16 A6, FOCAD, IHH, MESD, HOXA4, and DNAJB13. Furthermore, we observed an enrichment of protein-truncating variants in the genes ASXL1 and TET2 amongst LLI, likely as a result of clonal haematopoiesis. The study emphasizes the role of rare variants in human longevity, particularly through mTOR signaling.
Authors
- Janina Dose (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1145-509X)
- Joris Deelen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4483-3701)
- Malte Ziemann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0919-0237)
- Almut Nebel
- P. Eline Slagboom (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2875-4723)
- André Franke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1530-5811)
- Daniel Kolbe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6607-7591)
- Pasquale Putter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1995-2904)
- Matthias Laudes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3763-4368)
Institutions
- University of Cologne (DE)
- Leiden University Medical Center (NL)
- Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Kiel (DE)
- Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (DE)
- University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (DE)
- Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging Associated Diseases (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing (DE)
- Clinical Research Center Kiel (DE)
- University of Lübeck (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- GeroScience
- Published
- 2025-04-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-025-01640-7
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Genomics and Rare Diseases
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.63
Funders
- European Commission
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Seventh Framework Programme