Avaliação da influência da idade na organização telomérica em neurônios corticais de camundongos

Abstract

The aging process causes several cellular changes throughout the body so has become a potential cause of negative impact on the functional capacity of the central nervous system. One of the main characteristics associated with cellular aging is the decrease in telomere length at each cell division cycle, culminating in replicative senescence. However, little is known about such changes in post-mitotic cells as neurons. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify and evaluate telomeric alterations of the cortical neuron nuclei of two-age mice utilizing of image analysis of nuclei previously isolated and submitted to fluorescent in situ hybridization. The results demonstrate that the telomeric differences observed between ages are subtle because they occur in specific nuclear populations. In addition, the observed changes do not seem to involve the telomeric length, as expected in postmitotic cells to indicate a possible chromatin decompression and reorganization with aging with impacts on telomeric organization. Therefore, we conclude that the cortical neuron nuclei of older mice do not present loss or telomeric degradation with aging, but rather, a process of chromatin decompression and reorganization.