Mouse Purkinje cells expressing EGFP.Wikimedia Commons, GENSATMouse neurons can far outlive their mouse hosts—if transplanted into longer-lived rats, according to new research published today (February 25) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers demonstrated that certain mouse neurons—which often die off well before the end of a mouse’s life—could survive twice as long if transplanted into rats, despite showing signs of decreased function. The findings suggest that neuronal survival is not pre-programmed, but strongly influenced by the brain microenvironment.
The study suggests that the “whole aging milieu of an organism” affects a cell’s function and survival, said Judith Campisi, a cell and molecular biologist at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging who was not involved in the study. “There’s nothing intrinsic in a mouse cell that says thou shalt live 18 months and then no longer exist,” she noted, adding that the data supports other studies suggesting that “non-cell autonomous” factors are important in aging.
The study on neuron lifespan arose from previous transplantation studies designed to examine both intrinsic and environmental cues neurons heed during development, said first author Lorenzo Magrassi, a neurosurgeon at the University of Pavia in Italy. The transplanted mouse neurons developed normally in young rat brains, the researchers ...
