Comprehensive human proteome profiles across a 50-year lifespan reveal aging trajectories and signatures

Highlights

• A proteomic blueprint of human organs across 50-year aging stages

• Transcriptome-proteome decoupling and proteostasis failure mark aged tissues

• Human organ proteomic clocks reveal aging inflection and asynchrony

• Circulating senoproteins contribute to vascular and systemic aging

Summary

Proteins are the cornerstone of life. However, the proteomic blueprint of aging across human tissues remains uncharted. Here, we present a comprehensive proteomic and histological analysis of 516 samples from 13 human tissues spanning five decades. This dynamic atlas reveals widespread transcriptome-proteome decoupling and proteostasis decline, characterized by amyloid accumulation. Based on aging-associated protein changes, we developed tissue-specific proteomic age clocks and characterized organ-level aging trajectories. Temporal analysis revealed an aging inflection around age 50, with blood vessels being a tissue that ages early and is markedly susceptible to aging. We further defined a plasma proteomic signature of aging that matches its tissue origins and identified candidate senoproteins, including GAS6, driving vascular and systemic aging. Together, our findings lay the groundwork for a systems-level understanding of human aging through the lens of proteins.

Article in Cell. Read more at:

https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)00749-4