Project description:In this work we took 9 samples from brain and 6 samples from muscle of the African turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) at 3.5, 8.5 and 14 weeks. Total RNA was sequenced and circRNAs were detected.
Project description:Aging individuals exhibit a pervasive decline in adaptive immune function, with important implications for health and lifespan. Previous studies have found a pervasive loss of immune-repertoire diversity in human peripheral blood; however, little is known about repertoire aging in other immune compartments, or in species other than humans. Here, we perform the first study of immune-repertoire aging in an emerging model of vertebrate aging, the African turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri). Despite their extremely short lifespans, these killifish exhibit complex and individualised heavy-chain repertoires, with a generative process capable of producing millions of distinct productive sequences. Whole-body killifish repertoires decline rapidly in within-individual diversity with age, while between-individual variability increases. Large, expanded B-cell clones exhibit far greater diversity loss with age than small clones, suggesting an important difference in the age-sensitivity of different B cell populations. Compared to the whole body, the immune repertoires of isolated intestinal samples exhibit much more dramatic age-related phenotypes, apparently due to an elevated prevalence of age-sensitive expanded clones. Our results highlight the importance of organ-specific dynamics in adaptive immunosenescence.
Project description:The mammalian central nervous system (CNS) and its retina are susceptible to age-related patholgoies, resulting in progressive, irreversible diseases like glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which are increasingly prevalent with rising life expectancy. Currently, there are no targeted long-term therapies to prevent vision loss. The short lived African turquoise killifsh (Nothobranchius furzeri, GRZ-AD) is a valuable genetic model for ageing studies, displaying rapid ageing phenotypes within its four to six-month lifespan. Our investigation on the molecular consequences of ageing in the retina, employing scRNA-sequencing, shows a a comprehensive overview of the cellular heterogeneity of the killifish retina, uncovering age-related gene expression changes specific to certain retinal cell populations.
Project description:The mammalian central nervous system (CNS) is susceptible to age-related pathologies, resulting in progressive, irreversible disease. Neurodegenerative eye conditions, like glaucoma and age-related macular degeneneration (AMD), are on the rise due to increased life expectancy. Despite this, there are currently no long-term therapies to prevent degeneration and vision loss. The short-lived African turquoise kililfsh (Nothobranchius furzeri GRZ-AD) is an ideal genetic model for ageing studies, exhibiting rapid ageing phenotypes within its four to six-mont lifespan. Investigating the molecular consequences of ageing in the retina, we conducted bulk RNA-sequencing, revealing dysregulation of genetic pathways associated with ageing CNS and retinal diseas in the aged killifish retina.
Project description:Native to ephemeral pools in southeastern Africa that evaporate each dry season, the annual killifish, Nothobranchius furzeri (N. furzeri), evolved under intense selective pressure, producing a highly derived mode of early development. Following cleavage, deep blastomeres disperse as individual cells across the yolk surface, remaining independent until undergoing self-organized aggregation and germ layer formation. This dispersed phase lacks the tissue-level organization characteristic of other vertebrate embryos, providing an opporunity to investigate how lineage-specifying GRNs function in an altered morphogenetic environment. To investigate this question, we performed single cell RNA-sequencing on killifish embryos using PIP-seq technology, thereby producing the first coarse-grained atlas of early killifish embryogenesis. Here we show that primitive myelopoiesis, which in most studied vertebrates invariably develops from ventral mesodermal progenitor domains, is uncoupled from this tissue source in N. furzeri. Instead, neutrophils emerge prior to gastrulation. This rearrangement equips the African killifish with functional neutrophils before organogenesis begins, making it a striking example of developmental heterochrony.
Project description:Here, we performed a longitudinal study of genome-wide gene expression in the short-lived killifish Nothobranchius furzeri (MZM-0410 strain) and correlated variations in transcript abundance at two time points during early adult life with age at death.