What is it about?
Mouse neurons that are transplanted into rat embryos can integrate into the host brain and survive as long as the animal survive. This allows mouse neuron to survive longer than the maximum lifespan of their specie of origin. These results suggest that the lifespan of mammalian neurons is not genetically predetermined and limited to the average lifespan of the specie of origin.
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Why is it important?
If neurons have a maximum lifespan that coincides with the average lifespan of the specie: increasing population lifespan will inevitably lead to progressive neuronal death making dementia unavoidable. If this is true all the ongoing efforts to increase lifespan are essentially futile in terms of preserving life quality. However, the results reported in our paper indicate that lifespan of mammalian neurons is not genetically determined. This suggest that the efforts to extend the average lifespan (an hallmark of all technologically advanced societies) will not necessarily result in a brain impoverished of neurons well before death of the individuals.
Perspectives
If neuron maximal survival is not genetically predetermined and depends on environmental factors the identification of these factor could allow the development of new drug or procedures that will help to treat neurodegenerative diseases and other pathologies were neuronal survival is shortened.
Prof Lorenzo Magrassi
University of Pavia
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Lifespan of neurons is uncoupled from organismal lifespan, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 2013, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1217505110.
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