Journal article
Impact of age-related changes in buccal epithelial cells on pediatric epigenetic biomarker research
Abstract
Cheek swabs, heterogeneous samples consisting primarily of buccal epithelial cells, are widely used in pediatric DNA methylation studies and biomarker creation. However, the decrease in buccal proportion with age in adults remains unexamined in childhood. We analyzed cheek swabs from 4626 typically developing children 2-months to 20-years-old. Estimated buccal proportion declined throughout childhood with both increasing chronological and …
Authors
Merrill SM; Konwar C; Fatima F; Dever K; MacIsaac JL; Letourneau N; Giesbrecht GF; Dewey D; England-Mason G; Lewis CR
Journal
Nature Communications, Vol. 16, No. 1,
Publisher
Springer Nature
DOI
10.1038/s41467-025-55909-8
ISSN
2041-1723