Polycomb Marked Promoter Methylation Gains in Aging and Cancer are Independent of Replication
Hari Easwaran, Sara-Jayne Thursby, Nibedita Patel, Zhicheng Jin, Jacob Blum, Shilpa Bisht, Yong Tao, Yuba Bhandari, Daniel Petkovich, Hisashi Ro, Lijing Yang, Jeff (Tza-Huei) R Wang, Thomas Pisanic, Stephen Bruce Baylin
This study shows that Polycomb-marked promoter methylation gains in aging and cancer occur independently of replication and are driven by age-related epigenetic drift rather than oncogenic signaling.
bioRxiv · Nov 3, 2026 · PreprintCancer Biology