CENP-A, a protein required for chromosome segregation in mitosis, declines with age in islet but not exocrine cells.

Beta-cell replication dramatically declines with age. Here, we report that the level of CENP-A, a protein required for cell division, declines precipitously with age in an islet-specific manner. CENP-A is essentially undetectable after age 29 in humans. However, exocrine cells retain CENP-A expression. The decline in islet-cell CENP-A expression is more striking in humans than in mice, where CENP-A expression continues to be detectable at low levels even in elderly mice. The mechanism by which CENP-A declines appears to be post-transcriptional, as there was no correlation between CENP-A mRNA levels and age or islet purity. This finding has implications for efforts to induce beta-cell replication as a treatment for diabetes.