Chromatin is DNA and proteins combined together that make up the contents of the cell. Chromatin ensures DNA fits into the cell and is implicated in cell division, DNA replication and gene expression.
Whilst that complexity and the involvement of DNA damage and epigenetic modifications are no doubt linked it is also the case that chromatin defects (the cellular structure packaging the combination of DNA and proteins) plays a key role in ageing.
A key research question is how these processes are linked? Is it that DNA damage leads to chromatin defects? Or that changes in chromatic impacts DNA replication? Most recently it is hypothesized that DNA damage, epigenetic processes and chromatin aberration are more of network of interlinked processes and that a more straight linear explanation may be too simplistic.