Single-cell transcriptomics reveals age-resistant maintenance of cell identities, stem cell compartments and differentiation trajectories in long-lived naked mole-rats skin.

ABSTRACT: Naked mole-rats (NMR) are subterranean rodents characterized by an unusual longevity coupled with an unexplained resistance to aging. In the present study, we performed extensive in situ analysis and single-cell RNA-sequencing comparing young and older animals. At variance with other species, NMR exhibited a striking stability of skin compartments and cell types, which remained stable over time without aging-associated changes. Remarkably, the number of stem cells was constant throughout aging. We found three classical cellular states defining a unique keratinocyte differentiation trajectory that were not altered after pseudo-temporal reconstruction. Epidermal gene expression did not change with aging either. Langerhans cell clusters were conserved, and only a higher basal stem cell

SUBMITTER: Savina A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9134947 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature