What this means
Researchers found DNA marker changes linked to sun damage and natural aging in arm skin. The results suggest some markers may show short-term effects of sun exposure and of sun-protection cream.
Plain-English summary written by an AI model from the abstract. The original is below.
- Who it was tested in
- 24 young and 24 older adults for skin comparisons; 42 adults in a 5-month study
- Kind of research
- A study
The science
- Original title
- Epigenetic changes differentiate between endogenous ageing and photoageing in skin and can detect sun-protection factor cream effects in a 5-month interventional study.
- Authors
- Furtak A, Ramos Del Cano L, Shen J et al.
- Journal
- Environmental epigenetics
- Published
- Oct 14, 2026
- Study type
- Study
- PMID
- 42871805 ↗
Abstract
Epigenetics is a rapidly expanding field in ageing research. This is partly because changes in DNA methylation are excellent indicators of overall tissue ageing. Here, in a cross-sectional observational study, methylation levels were compared in upper-inner (sun-protected) and lower-outer (sun-exposed) arm skin biopsies of young (21-30 years, n = 24) and older (45-65 years, n = 24) participants of either European or Chinese ancestry. In young sun-protected skin, there were 69 significantly differentially methylated sites (DMSs) between those of Chinese and European ancestry. In a comparison between young and older sun-protected skin (endogenous ageing) there were 3545 pan-ethnic DMSs with a preference for hypermethylation and enrichment at the RNF32, FOXG1, NEFM, and ZIC1 gene loci. For photoageing, 2208 pan-ethnic photoageing DMS were identified with a preference for hypomethylation and enrichment at the HOXB1-3, TWIST1, and TBX20 gene loci. From the photoageing DMSs, 156 CpG sites were selected that consistently differentiated photo-exposed from protected skin even in the young participants. The mean degree of change for these 156 CpG sites was subsequently measured over 5-months in an interventional study on participants' lower outer-arm skin (n = 42). Participants had regular sun-protection factor (SPF) use on one arm and normal free-living conditions on the contralateral arm. The free-living arm demonstrated greater skin darkening and a significantly larger mean change in methylation compared with the SPF-treated arm. Overall, the results highlight endogenous and photoageing methylation differences in skin and suggest that specific DNA methylation sites can track short-term sun-exposure and its attenuation by SPF use.
Furtak A, Ramos Del Cano L, Shen J et al. Epigenetic changes differentiate between endogenous ageing and photoageing in skin and can detect sun-protection factor cream effects in a 5-month interventional study. Environmental epigenetics. 2026. doi:10.1093/eep/dvag025. PMID: 42871805. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42871805/
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