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Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE B 1998 Vol.-1 No.-1 P.

http://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B2500398


Development of epigenetic clocks for age estimation in human sperm and semen: Multi-Platform discovery and forensic validation


Author(s):  Ming ZHAO1, 2, Fanzhang LEI1, Meiming CAI1, Qinglin LIANG1, Xi YUAN1, Qiong LAN1, Yating FANG3, Bofeng ZHU1

Affiliation(s):  1. 1Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Forensic Multi-Omics for Precision Identification, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China 2School of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, China 3School of Basic Medical Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230031, China

Corresponding email(s):   Qiong LAN, joan_lan1205@126.com Yating FANG, fighting9216@163.com Bofeng ZHU, zhubofeng7372@126.com

Key Words:  Age-related CpG, Sperm chronological epigenetic clock, Age estimation, Semen age prediction model


Ming ZHAO1,2, Fanzhang LEI1, Meiming CAI1, Qinglin LIANG1, Xi YUAN1, Qiong LAN1, Yating FANG3, Bofeng ZHU1. Development of epigenetic clocks for age estimation in human sperm and semen: Multi-Platform discovery and forensic validation[J]. Journal of Zhejiang University Science B, 1998, -1(-1): .

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year="1998",
publisher="Zhejiang University Press & Springer",
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Abstract: 
Accurate age estimation from semen evidence is crucial for forensic investigations in sexual assault cases. While DNA methylation is a promising biomarker for predicting the donor's chronological age in forensic cases, most existing DNA methylation-based age estimation models primarily focus on somatic cells, with limited exploration of sperm-specific methylation signatures. Given that tissue-specific differences in CpG methylation may reduce the accuracy of existing epigenetic clocks for semen samples, there is a need to develop age-prediction models for this tissue in particular. For this study, we employed publicly available sperm methylation microarray datasets (GSE185920, n = 1471, aged 20-60 years) from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) to identify age-related CpG sites (AR-CpGs). To identify AR-CpGs, we subsequently implemented a multi-algorithm feature selection strategy (maximum mutual information, L1 regularization, and sequential feature selection). We developed an optimized sperm-epigenetic clock by evaluating 69 machine learning regression model frameworks, achieving a mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.63 years in the training cohort. Validation on independent sperm datasets (GSE185445, n = 379, GSE149318, n = 90) yielded MAEs of 2.93 and 2.58 years, respectively, demonstrating robust generalization. To identify additional markers, we screened for sperm-specific AR-CpGs using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) data from the publicly available GEO dataset GSE222340. Subsequently, based on the pyrosequencing data of nine selected AR-CpG markers analyzed in 95 semen samples (ages 20-42 years), we developed a robust forensic model for human semen age estimation and determined the optimal algorithm by systematically evaluating 23 regression methods. The best-performing model, support vector machine (radial basis function kernel), exhibited an MAE of 2.21 years and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 3.15 years on the test set. This work provides a valuable set of AR-CpGs, develops an optimized sperm-chronological epigenetic clock, and delivers a practical model for estimating age from semen.

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