Is senescence-associated β-galactosidase a marker of neuronal senescence?

ABSTRACT: One of the features of cellular senescence is the activity of senescence-associated- β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal). The main purpose of this study was to evaluate this marker of senescence in aging neurons. We found that cortical neurons exhibited noticeable SA-β-gal activity quite early in culture. Many SA-β-gal-positive neurons were negative for another canonical marker of senescence, namely, double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs). Moreover, DDR signalling triggered by low doses of doxorubicin did not accelerate the appearance of neuronal SA-β-gal. In vivo, we observed pronounced induction of SA-β-gal activity in the hippocampus of 24-month-old mice, which is consistent with previous findings and supports the view that at this advanced age neurons developed a senescence-like phenotype. Surprisingl

SUBMITTER: Piechota M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5348379 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature