PUBLICATION
The zebrafish as a vertebrate model of functional aging and very gradual senescence
- Authors
- Kishi, S., Uchiyama, J., Baughman, A.M., Goto, T., Lin, M.C., and Tsai, S.B.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-030716-7
- Date
- 2003
- Source
- Experimental gerontology 38(7): 777-786 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Kishi, Shuji, Uchiyama, Junzo
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Aging/physiology*
- Animals
- Biomarkers/analysis
- Bromodeoxyuridine/metabolism
- Cell Division
- Lipofuscin/analysis
- Models, Animal*
- Muscles/cytology
- Muscles/metabolism
- Oxidation-Reduction
- Poecilia/physiology
- Proteins/metabolism
- Skin/enzymology
- Species Specificity
- Telomerase/metabolism
- Vertebrates/physiology
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- beta-Galactosidase/analysis
- PubMed
- 12855287 Full text @ Exp. Gerontol.
Citation
Kishi, S., Uchiyama, J., Baughman, A.M., Goto, T., Lin, M.C., and Tsai, S.B. (2003) The zebrafish as a vertebrate model of functional aging and very gradual senescence. Experimental gerontology. 38(7):777-786.
Abstract
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has been developed as a powerful model for genetic studies in developmental biology, which also gives insights into several diseases of adult humans such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Because aging processes affect these and many other human diseases, it is important to compare zebrafish and other mammalian aging However, the aging process of zebrafish remains largely unexplored, and little is known about its functional aging and senescence. In a survey of aging in zebrafish, we detected senescence-associated beta- galactosidase activity in skin and oxidized protein accumulation in muscle. However, we did not observe lipofuscin granules ('aging pigments '), which commonly accumulate in postmitotic cells of other vertebrates This absence of lipofuscins may be consistent with the existence of continuously proliferating myocytes that incorporated BrdU in muscle tissues of aged zebrafish. Moreover, we demonstrated that zebrafish have constitutively abundant telomerase activity in somatic tissues from embryos to aged adults. Although some stress-associated markers are upregulated and minor histological changes are observed during the aging process of zebrafish, our studies together with other evidence of remarkable reproductive and regenerative abilities suggest that zebrafish show very gradual or sub-negligible senescence in vivo.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping