Department of Molecular Biology, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea.
Exp Gerontol. 2012 May;47(5):401-5. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2012.02.007. Epub 2012 Feb 24.
A decline in stem cell function is considered as a major cause of tissue atrophy, organ-system failure, cancer development and aging process. For a better understanding of the mechanism underlying age-related decline of stem cell function, characterization of aged stem cells is required. DNA damage induces epigenetic modifications that are associated with cell dysfunction. In mammals, γH2AX has been shown as DNA damage marker and an adaptor for recruiting chromatin modifying factors. In current study, utilizing a well-accepted Drosophila midgut model for stem-cell biology, we demonstrated aging- and oxidative stress-related accumulation of γH2AvD foci, analogous to mammal γH2AX, in Drosophila intestinal stem cells (ISCs), and obtained evidence that the changes in γH2AvD is closely associated with γ-ray-induced DNA damage in ISCs and age-related accumulation of 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine. The significance of our study is to document the first direct evidence for the accumulation of age-related DNA-damage in ISCs, and to show γH2AvD as a useful biomarker in exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying stem cell aging in the Drosophila midgut.
干细胞功能的衰退被认为是组织萎缩、器官系统衰竭、癌症发展和衰老过程的主要原因。为了更好地理解与年龄相关的干细胞功能衰退的机制,需要对衰老的干细胞进行特征描述。DNA 损伤会诱导与细胞功能障碍相关的表观遗传修饰。在哺乳动物中,γH2AX 已被证明是 DNA 损伤的标志物,也是募集染色质修饰因子的接头。在本研究中,我们利用一种被广泛接受的用于干细胞生物学的果蝇肠道模型,证明了与衰老和氧化应激相关的 γH2AvD 焦点在果蝇肠道干细胞(ISCs)中的积累,类似于哺乳动物的 γH2AX,并获得了证据表明,γH2AvD 的变化与 ISCs 中 γ 射线诱导的 DNA 损伤和与年龄相关的 8-氧-2'-脱氧鸟苷的积累密切相关。本研究的意义在于首次直接证明了 ISCs 中与年龄相关的 DNA 损伤的积累,并表明 γH2AvD 是探索果蝇肠道中干细胞衰老的分子机制的有用生物标志物。