The Marmoset as a Model of Aging and Age-Related Diseases

Abstract

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is poised to become a standard nonhuman primate aging model. With an average lifespan of 5 to 7 years and a maximum lifespan of 16.5 years, marmosets are the shortest-lived anthropoid primates. They display age-related changes in pathologies that mirror those seen in humans, such as cancer, amyloidosis, diabetes, and chronic renal disease. They also display predictable age-related differences in lean mass, calf circumference, circulating albumin, hemoglobin, and hematocrit. Features of spontaneous sensory and neurodegenerative change—for example, reduced neurogenesis, β-amyloid deposition in the cerebral cortex, loss of calbindin D28k binding, and evidence of presbycusis—appear between the ages of 7 and 10 years. Variation among colonies in the age at which neurodegenerative change occurs suggests the interesting possibility that marmosets could be specifically managed to produce earlier versus later occurrence of degenerative conditions associated with differing rates of damage accumulation. In addition to the established value of the marmoset as a model of age-related neurodegenerative change, this primate can serve as a model of the integrated effects of aging and obesity on metabolic dysfunction, as it displays evidence of such dysfunction associated with high body weight as early as 6 to 8 years of age.

Motor assessment of developing common marmosets

“…Interestingly, in a previous study, a specific marmoset behavior (head-cocking) was reported to occur on day 13 after birth and reach a stable level by days 24-29 [9] , over the same developmental period as our study. Motor performance has also been studied in several marmoset disease models, such as PD [10] , spinal cord injury [11] , stroke [12] , and aging models [13] . In the future, marmosets could be further used for developing models of other motor-related human diseases, such as transgenic models for motor-related genes.…”

Oral health in geroscience: animal models and the aging oral cavity

“…In addition to the many challenges associated with longterm captive studies in M. nemestrina and rhesus monkeys, these types of studies are also extremely expensive and difficult to replicate due to the long life spans (> 30 years on average) of these animals. More recently, shorter-lived marmosets have emerged as a potentially important non-human primate model in geroscience (Tardif et al, 2011;Salmon, 2016), and it would be of high interest to better understand on how the oral health of marmosets changes during aging.…”

Primate aging in the mammalian scheme: the puzzle of extreme variation in brain aging

“…Because of its small size, rapid reproduction, and relatively short life, the common marmoset has been increasingly used in aging-related research (Tardif et al 2011). …”

“…Note that marmosets and lemurs do not have menstrual cycles (they have estrous cycles), thus do not have menopause AGE (2012AGE ( ) 34:1075AGE ( -1091species (Austad and Fischer 2011). The current and future use of the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) in aging research has been recently reviewed in detail (Tardif et al 2011). A general overview of the use of marmosets in biomedical research may be found in (Mansfield 2003).…”

“…The cerebral cortex showed diffuse Aβ plaques (but no neurofibrillary tangles) (Table 2). However, the frequency and age of onset of this amyloidosis varies widely among colonies in a manner reflective of differences in survival among those colonies (Tardif et al 2011). Future studies of primate brain aging may access the advantages of the marmoset; their relatively rapid development, multiple births, short life, ease of handling, and reduced maintenance costs compared with larger species (Austad and Fischer 2011).…”