A population-scale red blood cell proteome reveals genetically encoded aging clocks predictive of hemolysis and blood donor activity

Abstract

As the most abundant human cell and the foundation of transfusion medicine, red blood cells (RBCs) offer a unique readout of systemic health, yet they have never been characterized at population scale. We generated a proteome atlas of 13,091 blood donors with multi-omics longitudinal phenotyping, characterizing the influence of demographics and genetic variation on the reproducibility of RBC proteomes across donations. Elastic-net aging clocks captured biological aging with high accuracy and uncovered genetic regulators of {Delta}Age at FN1, C4/IKZF1, CRAT, PFAS, TRIM58. Across independent cohorts, {Delta}Age was accelerated in G6PD deficiency, sickle cell trait/disease, and iron deficiency, reversed by iron repletion, and slowed in high-frequency donors, linking molecular aging to brain iron/myelin and cognitive performance. Molecular aging signatures predicted storage, osmotic, and oxidative hemolysis, hemoglobin increments after transfusion, and long-term donor activity over 12-years. These results establish RBC proteomics as a scalable biomarker of aging, donor healthspan, and transfusion outcomes. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=200 SRC="FIGDIR/small/710284v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (96K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@15bd46eorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1d7c107org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1c1d870org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@168dc6f_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG Dzieciatkowska et al. generate the first population-scale atlas of the RBC proteome across 13,000 donors and develop proteomic and metabolomic aging clocks that quantify biological age. Molecular {Delta}Age is reproducible across donations, genetically encoded and accelerated in G6PD deficiency, sickle cell trait/disease, and iron deficiency - yet reset by iron repletion, tracking with cognitive function and brain iron/myelin. RBC aging clocks predict hemolytic fragility, transfusion efficacy, and donor activity 12 years later. C_FIG HighlightsO_LIRBC proteome atlas of 13,091 donors reveals demographic and genetic programs C_LIO_LIGenetically encoded RBC aging clocks identify regulators of molecular {Delta}age C_LIO_LIMolecular aging features predict hemolysis and transfusion response across cohorts C_LIO_LIRBC molecular age forecasts long-term donor activity over a 12-year follow-up C_LI