Genome maintenance and bioenergetics of the long-lived hypoxia-tolerant and cancer-resistant blind mole rat, Spalax: a cross-species analysis of brain transcriptome.

ABSTRACT: The subterranean blind mole rat, Spalax, experiences acute hypoxia-reoxygenation cycles in its natural subterranean habitat. At the cellular level, these conditions are known to promote genomic instability, which underlies both cancer and aging. However, Spalax is a long-lived animal and is resistant to both spontaneous and induced cancers. To study this apparent paradox we utilized a computational procedure that allows detecting differences in transcript abundance between Spalax and the closely related above-ground Rattus norvegicus in individuals of different ages. Functional enrichment analysis showed that Spalax whole brain tissues maintain significantly higher normoxic mRNA levels of genes associated with DNA damage repair and DNA metabolism, yet keep significantly lower mRNA levels o

SUBMITTER: Malik A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5146665 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature