Genetics and Biotechnology Research Center (BİLGEN)

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Browsing Genetics and Biotechnology Research Center (BİLGEN) by Subject "Aging"

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    Gene expression changes in aging zebrafish (Danio rerio) brains are sexually dimorphic
    (BioMed Central, 2014) Arslan-Ergül, Ayça; Adams, Michelle M.
    Background: Brain aging is a multi-factorial process due to both genetic and environmental factors. The zebrafish has recently become a popular model organism for examining aging and age-related diseases because as in humans they age gradually and exhibit cognitive decline. Few studies have examined the biological changes in the aging brain that may contribute to these declines and none have examined them within individuals with respect to gender. Our aim was to identify the main genetic pathways associated with zebrafish brain aging across gender. We chose males and females from specific age groups (young, 7.5-8.5 months and old, 31-36 months) based on the progression of cognitive decline in zebrafish. RNA was isolated from individual brains and subjected to microarray and qPCR analysis. Statistical analyses were performed using a two-way ANOVA and the relevant post-hoc tests. Results: Our results demonstrated that in the brains of young and old male and female zebrafish there were over 500 differentially expressed genes associated with multiple pathways but most notably were those related to neurogenesis and cell differentiation, as well as brain and nervous system development. Conclusions: The gene expression of multiple pathways is altered with age and differentially expressed in males and females. Future studies will be aimed at determining the causal relationships of age-related changes in gene expression in individual male and female brains, as well as possible interventions that counteract these alterations.
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    Novel object recognition is not affected by age despite age-related brain changes
    (Scientific Research Publishing, 2013) Aktoprak, İlay; Dinç, Pelin; Günay, Gizem; Adams, Michelle M.
    Age-related memory impairments show a progressive decline across lifespan. Studies have demonstrated equivocal results in biological and behavioral outcomes of aging. Thus, in the present study we examined the novel object recognition task at a delay period that has been shown to be impaired in aged rats of two different strains. Moreover, we used a strain of rats, Fisher 344XBrown Norway, which have published age-related biological changes in the brain. Young (10 month old) and aged (28 month old) rats were tested on a standard novel object recognition task with a 50-minute delay period. The data showed that young and aged rats in the strain we used performed equally well on the novel object recognition task and that both young and old rats demonstrated a righthanded side preference for the novel object. Our data suggested that novel object recognition is not impaired in aged rats although both young and old rats have a demonstrated side preference. Thus, it may be that genetic differences across strains contribute to the equivocal results in behavior, and genetic variance likely influences the course of cognitive aging.