Titel (eng)

Understanding seasonal telomere length dynamics in hibernating species

Autor*in

Lilian Redon   University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna

Sylvain Giroud   University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna

Caroline Habold   Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien

Théo Constant   Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien

Steve Smith   University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna

Verlag

Elsevier

Beschreibung (eng)

Oxidative stress is thought to be one of the main causes of ageing as it progressively damages cell components throughout life, eventually causing cellular failure and apoptosis. In many organisms, telomeres shorten throughout life under the effect of, amongst other factors, oxidative stress, and are therefore commonly used as marker of biological ageing. However, hibernators, which are regularly exposed to acute oxidative stress when rewarming from torpor, are unexpectedly long-lived. In this review, we explore the causes of oxidative stress associated with hibernation and its impact on telomere dynamics in different taxa, focussing on hibernating rodents. We then speculate on the adaptive mechanisms of hibernators to compensate for the effects of oxidative stress, which may explain their increased longevity. Because winter hibernation appears to be associated with high oxidative stress, hibernators, particularly rodents, may periodically invest in repair mechanisms and antioxidant defences, resulting in seasonal variations in telomere lengths. This research shows how species with a slow life-history strategy deal with
large changes in oxidative stress, unifying evolutionary and physiological theories of ageing. Because of the marked seasonal variation in telomere length, we also draw attention when using telomeres as markers for biological aging in seasonal heterotherms and possibly in other highly seasonal species.

Sprache des Objekts

Englisch

Datum

2024

Rechte

Dieses Werk bzw. dieser Inhalt steht unter einer
CC BY 4.0 - Creative Commons Namensnennung 4.0 International Lizenz.

CC BY 4.0 International

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Klassifikation

Hibernation; Animals; Seasons; Oxidative Stress; Telomere Genetics; Telomere Homeostasis; Telomere Shortening; Aging Genetics

Mitglied in der/den Collection(s) (1)