Date: April 2016.
Source: Current Biology, Volume 26, Issue 9, 9 May 2016, Pages 1213–1220.
Highlights:
• We present the first genetic associations with how old people look (perceived age)
• Variants in MC1R, a pigmentation gene, significantly associated with perceived age
• The MC1R association was independent of wrinkling, skin color, and sun exposure
• The MC1R genetic effect resulted in looking up to 2 years older for one’s age
Abstract: Looking young for one’s age has been a desire since time immemorial. This desire is attributable to the belief that appearance reflects health and fecundity. Indeed, perceived age predicts survival [1] and associates with molecular markers of aging such as telomere length [2]. Understanding the underlying molecular biology of perceived age is vital for identifying new aging therapies among other purposes, but studies are lacking thus far. As a first attempt, we performed genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of perceived facial age and wrinkling estimated from digital facial images by analyzing over eight million SNPs in 2,693 elderly Dutch Europeans from the Rotterdam Study. The strongest genetic associations with perceived facial age were found for multiple SNPs in the MC1R gene (p < 1 × 10−7). This effect was enhanced for a compound heterozygosity marker constructed from four pre-selected functional MC1R SNPs (p = 2.69 × 10−12), which was replicated in 599 Dutch Europeans from the Leiden Longevity Study (p = 0.042) and in 1,173 Europeans of the TwinsUK Study (p = 3 × 10−3). Individuals carrying the homozygote MC1R risk haplotype looked on average up to 2 years older than non-carriers. This association was independent of age, sex, skin color, and sun damage (wrinkling, pigmented spots) and persisted through different sun-exposure levels. Hence, a role for MC1R in youthful looks independent of its known melanin synthesis function is suggested. Our study uncovers the first genetic evidence explaining why some people look older for their age and provides new leads for further investigating the biological basis of how old or young people look.
Article: The MC1R Gene and Youthful Looks.
Authors: Fan Liu, Merel A. Hamer, Joris Deelen, Japal S. Lall, Leonie Jacobs, Diana van Heemst, Peter G. Murray, Andreas Wollstein, Anton J.M. de Craen, Hae-Won Uh, Changqing Zeng, Albert Hofman, André G. Uitterlinden, Jeanine J. Houwing-Duistermaat, Luba M. Pardo, Marian Beekman, P. Eline Slagboom, Tamar Nijsten, Manfred Kayser, David A. Gunn. Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

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