Cross-tissue transcriptional aging in the human motor system: shared genes, tissue-specific trajectories
In 7,145 samples from 15 human tissues, most age-related genes were shared across tissues, but their direction, size and timing differed by tissue; cross-tissue transcriptional synchrony rose to a high level around midlife and then declined in later life, selectively involving the peripheral nerve–skeletal muscle axis and connections involving the striatum. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
The analysis integrated 7,145 samples from 15 human tissues spanning three functional levels of motor control, signal transmission and peripheral execution. [1]
Most age-related genes were shared across tissues, but direction of regulation, effect magnitude and temporal trajectories were markedly tissue-specific. [1]
Cross-tissue transcriptional synchrony rose from early to mid-adulthood, was relatively high around midlife and declined in later life, with selective late-life decoupling. [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Abstract of a cross-tissue transcriptomic trajectory analysis
- Population / context
- Human tissue samples: 7,145 samples from 15 tissues of the motor system
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
- Publication status
- Preprint · peer-review status not confirmed
- Original publication
- September 24, 2026
15 tissues across three motor-system levels
The abstract describes an integration of data from the Genotype-Tissue Expression project and Gene Expression Omnibus: 7,145 samples from 15 human tissues. These tissues span three functional levels of motor control, signal transmission and peripheral execution. The authors reconstructed age-related transcriptional trajectories using generalized additive models. The question was how aging is coordinated across the anatomically distinct tissues that together make up the human motor system.
Supporting source [1]
Shared genes, tissue-specific direction and timing
Most age-related genes were shared across multiple tissues. Yet their direction of regulation, effect magnitude and temporal trajectories showed marked tissue specificity. Despite the clear central-to-peripheral functional organization of the motor system, transcriptional aging did not follow a stable temporal sequence or spatial gradient along this functional chain.
Supporting source [1]
Synchrony peaks around midlife, then declines
Cross-tissue transcriptional synchrony progressively increased from early to mid-adulthood, reached a relatively high level around midlife and subsequently declined in later life; this pattern was supported at both the gene and pathway levels. The late-life loss of coordination was selective, prominently involving the peripheral nerve–skeletal muscle axis and multiple tissue connections involving the striatum. The authors conclude that transcriptional aging of the human motor system combines tissue-specific responses on a broadly shared molecular basis with age-dependent reorganization of cross-tissue coordination and selective late-life decoupling.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
This is an abstract; the full text was not reviewed. The findings come from reconstructed transcriptional trajectories in donated tissue samples, not from measured motor function or outcomes in living people. The abstract reports no sample-level follow-up, no causal test and no external validation; the described synchrony and decoupling are associations.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Nie H, Sakuma K. · europepmc.org · September 24, 2026