Association analysis of the SHC1 gene locus with longevity in the Japanese population

The SHC1 gene encodes a signaling and transforming protein that has been implicated in the aging process in worms and mammals. In this study we examined 230 Japanese centenarians and 180 healthy younger controls and looked at the SHC1 locus as a candidate region that may be associated with longevity. We identified 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within a 10-kb region encompassing the entire SHC1 gene from the DNA of 30 centenarians and 24 healthy younger controls. Five SNPs, including three nonsynonymous sites, lay within coding elements, six were located within introns, and one was in the 3′ untranslated region. All of these SNPs were relatively rare, with a minor allele frequency of less than 5% in our subjects. A pairwise linkage disequilibrium analysis using the r² statistic showed that two of the SNP pairs are in tight linkage disequilibrium at this locus. We investigated the possible association of SHC1 with longevity using association analyses with allelotypes and haplotypes but found that the SNPs identified in SHC1 had no impact on longevity for Japanese centenarians.