Age-related cellular changes in the long-lived bivalve A. islandica

Abstract

One of the biggest challenges to studying causes and effects of aging is identifying changes in cells that are related to senescence instead of simply the passing of chronological time. We investigated two populations of the longest living non-colonial metazoan, Arctica islandica, with lifespans that differed sixfolds. Of four investigated parameters (nucleic acid oxidation, protein oxidation, lipid oxidation, and protein instability), only nucleic acid oxidation increased with age and correlated with relative lifespan. Nucleic acid oxidation levels increased significantly faster and were significantly higher in the shorter-lived than the longer-lived population. In contrast, neither protein oxidation, lipid oxidation, nor protein stability changed over time. Protein resistance to unfolding stress when treated with urea was significantly lower overall in the shorter-lived population, and lipid peroxidation levels were higher in the longer-lived population. With the exception of nucleic acid oxidation, damage levels of A. islandica do not change with age, indicating excellent cellular maintenance in both populations. Since correlations between nucleic acid oxidation and age have also been shown previously in other organisms, and nucleic acid oxidation accumulation rate correlates with relative age in both investigated populations, nucleic acid oxidation may reflect intrinsic aging mechanisms. AGE (2015) 37: 90

Report: NIA workshop on translating genetic variants associated with longevity into drug targets

“…Steve Austad described his experience exploring the use of proteomics technologies in studying factors that contribute to longevity in a wide variety of species, including extremely long-lived bivalve mollusks (e.g., clams, scallops and oysters), which can live more than 500 years (Gruber et al 2015 ). The proteins encoded by genes in model species that have reliable orthologs in humans could be examined in human studies and provide a very rich source of potential IPs for functional studies of genes harboring LAVs (item III.a and III.b in Fig.…”

Transcriptomic responses of the endangered freshwater mussel Margaritifera margaritifera to trace metal contamination in the Dronne River, France

“…Similarly, in older M. margaritifera, the absence of defense responses may lead to an alteration in the age structure of the population under environmental stress. However, with a maximum life span of 190 years (maybe more according to some studies on Northern European populations; e.g., Dunca et al 2011), this species is amongst the masters of longevity (Philipp and Abele 2010), which suggests efficient molecular adaptations for oxidative damage mitigation, such as reduced nucleic acid oxidation and higher protein resistance to unfolding (Gruber et al 2015), and could make the freshwater pearl mussel an interesting model for studies in other fields of research such as aging.…”

A Distinct Mitochondrial Genome with DUI-Like Inheritance in the Ocean QuahogArctica islandica

“…Arctica islandica (Linnaeus 1767) belongs to the Heterodonta, order Veneroida and is the sole living representative of the Arcticidae family ( Morton 2011 ). This species, known as the longest-lived non colonial species with a maximum reported life span of 507 years, is of great interest for studies of aging in marine non model species ( Strahl and Abele 2010 ; Morton 2011 ; Strahl et al 2011 ; Abele and Philipp 2013 ; Gruber et al 2015 ). The different populations are widely distributed in the Northern hemisphere (from east coast of North America to the European North Atlantic around Iceland, north of Norway and into the White Sea).…”