Aging Process in Chromatin of Animals

The aging process is a variable, stochastic and pleiotropic phenomenon which is regulated by different environmental and genetic factors. The age-associated changes, which occur at the molecular and cellular levels and disturb biological homeostasis, may directly or indirectly contribute to aging, causing apoptosis or cellular senescence and consequently leading to the death of the organism. In this context, it is particularly interesting to observe changes in somatic cell chromatin. In the present paper, we summarized the knowledge on the biological aspects of aging with special consideration of age-related changes in chromatin like DNA damage, shortening telomeres or age-related changes in methylation of DNA.