Centenarian hippocampus displays high levels of astrocytic metallothioneins.
Ander Saenz-Antoñanzas, Maider Muñoz-Culla, Piero Rigo, Leire Ruiz-Barreiro et al.
Kernaussage
Metallothioneins (MTs), particularly MT1 and MT3, are highly expressed in astrocytes within the hippocampus of centenarians and very old individuals, and their expression is crucial for maintaining astrocytic homeostasis and potentially protecting the aging brain.
Abstract
The hippocampus is a brain area linked to cognition. The mechanisms that maintain cognitive activity in humans are poorly understood. Centenarians display extreme longevity which is generally accompanied by better quality of life, lower cognitive impairment, and reduced incidence of pathologies including neurodegenerative diseases. We performed transcriptomic studies in hippocampus samples from individuals of different ages (centenarians [≥97 years], old, and young) and identified a differential gene expression pattern in centenarians compared to the other two groups. In particular, several isoforms of metallothioneins (MTs) were highly expressed in centenarians. Moreover, we identified that MTs were mainly expressed in astrocytes. Functional studies in human primary astrocytes revealed that MT1 and MT3 are necessary for their homeostasis maintenance. Overall, these results indicate that the expression of MTs specifically in astrocytes is a mechanism for protection during aging.
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Quelle: PubMed Central / National Library of Medicine (NLM). Apollion steht in keiner Verbindung mit NLM und wird von NLM nicht empfohlen. Evidenzgrade bewerten die methodische Studienqualität — nicht die inhaltliche Richtigkeit.
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