Artigo Acesso aberto Revisado por pares

Premature Aging in Mice Deficient in DNA Repair and Transcription

2002; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 296; Issue: 5571 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.1070174

ISSN

1095-9203

Autores

Jan de Boer, Jaan‐Olle Andressoo, Jan de Wit, J. G. M. Huijmans, Rudolph B. Beems, Harry van Steeg, Geert Weeda, Gijsbertus T. J. van der Horst, Wibeke van Leeuwen, Axel P. N. Themmen, M. Meradji, Jan H.J. Hoeijmakers,

Tópico(s)

Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence

Resumo

One of the factors postulated to drive the aging process is the accumulation of DNA damage. Here, we provide strong support for this hypothesis by describing studies of mice with a mutation in XPD , a gene encoding a DNA helicase that functions in both repair and transcription and that is mutated in the human disorder trichothiodystrophy (TTD). TTD mice were found to exhibit many symptoms of premature aging, including osteoporosis and kyphosis, osteosclerosis, early greying, cachexia, infertility, and reduced life-span. TTD mice carrying an additional mutation in XPA , which enhances the DNA repair defect, showed a greatly accelerated aging phenotype, which correlated with an increased cellular sensitivity to oxidative DNA damage. We hypothesize that aging in TTD mice is caused by unrepaired DNA damage that compromises transcription, leading to functional inactivation of critical genes and enhanced apoptosis.

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