Abstract
We have used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based technique of differential display to analyse changes in gene expression during ageing of the rat brain. In this approach we have compared three young adult (6 months) with three old adult (20 months) animals. RNA preparations from the homogenised brains were subjected to reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR using 36 different combinations of primer pairs. Any PCR product which was consistently found to be more prominent in the three young brains compared to the three old brains, and vice versa, was scored as potentially representing a gene which was differentially expressed during the ageing of this tissue. Out of a possible 2000+PCR products we identified 44 that might represent genes that exhibit differential expression during ageing of the rat brain. An initial screen of these fragments, by Southern-blotting the PCR products and hybridising them with cDNA probes derived from either young or old brain RNA preparations, indicated that 40% of them represented genes that were differentially expressed. This approach is likely to prove invaluable for identifying cohorts of genes that show differential expression during the ageing process.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literatur
Holehan A. M. and Merry B. J. (1986) The experimental manipulation of ageing by diet. Biol. Rev.61: 329–368.
Merry B. J. (1995) Effect of dietary restriction on ageing — an update. Rev. Clin. Gerontol.5: 247–258.
Lindholm D. B. (1986) Decreased transcription of neuronal polyadenylated RNA during senescence in nuclei from rat brain cortex. J. Neurochem.47: 1503–1506.
Richardson A. and Cheung H. T. (1982) The relationship between age-related changes in gene expression, protein turnover and the responsiveness of an organism to stimuli. Life Sci.31: 605–613.
Moore R. E., Goldsworthy T. L. and Pitol H. C. (1980) Turnover of 3′-polyadenylate-containing RNA in livers from aged, partially hepatectomized, neonatal and Morris 5123C hepatoma-bearing rats. Cancer Res.40: 1447–1457.
Chatterjee B. Nath T. S. and Roy A. K. (1981) Differential regulation of the messenger RNA for three major senescence marker proteins in male rat liver. J. Biol. Chem.256: 5939–5941.
Slagboom P. E. and Vijg J. (1992) The dynamics of genome organisation and expression during the aging process. Ann. New York Acad. Sci.673: 58–69.
Rao G., Xia E., Nadakavukaren M. J. and Richardson A. (1990) Effect of dietary restriction on the age-dependent changes in the expression of antioxidant enzymes in rat liver. J. Nutr.120: 602–609.
Semsei I., Rao G. and Richardson A. (1991) Expression of superoxide dismutase and catalase in rat brain as a function of age. Mech. Ageing Dev.58: 13–19
Mote P. L., Grizzle J. M., Walford R. L. and Spindler S. R. (1991) Aging alters hepatic expression of insulin receptor and c-jun mRNA in the mouse. Mutat. Res.256: 7–12
Heydari A. R., Wu B., Takahashi R., Strong R. and Richardson A. (1993) Expression of heat shock protein 70 is altered by age and diet at the level of transcription. Molec. Cell. Biol.13: 2909–2918
Liang P. and Pardee A. B. (1992) Differential display of eukaryotic messenger RNA by means of the polymerase chain reaction. Science257: 967–971
Lee K. A., Goepel J. R., Winfield D. A., Hancock B. W. and Goyns M. H. (1993) Investigation of BCL-2 gene rearrangements in a United Kingdom series of low and high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Leukemia Lymphoma11: 91–98
Friedman V., Wagner J. and Danner D. B. (1990) Isolation and identification of aging-related cDNAs in the mouse. Mech. Ageing Dev.52: 2743
Sierra F., Fey G. H. and Guigoz Y. (1989) T-kininogen gene expression is induced during ageing. Molec. Cell. Biol.9: 5610–5616
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Salehi, M., Hodgkins, M.A., Merry, B.J. et al. Age-related changes in gene expression in the rat brain revealed by differential display. Experientia 52, 888–891 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01938876
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01938876