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bioRxiv · 10.1101/221333

Naked mole-rat transcriptome signatures of socially-suppressed sexual maturation and links of reproduction to aging

Bens, M.·Szafranski, K.·Holtze, S.·Sahm, A.·Groth, M.·Kestler, H. A.·Hildebrandt, T. B.·Platzer, M.
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Abstract

Naked mole-rats (NMRs) are eusocially organized in colonies. Although breeders carry the additional metabolic load of reproduction, they are extremely long-lived and remain fertile throughout their lifespan. Comparative transcriptome analysis of ten organs from breeders and non-breeders of the eusocial long-lived NMR and the polygynous shorter-lived guinea pig provide comprehensive and unbiased molecular evidence that sexual maturation in NMR is socially suppressed. After transition into breeders, transcriptomes are markedly sex-specific, show pronounced feedback signaling via gonadal steroids and have similarities to reproductive phenotypes in African cichlid fish. Further, NMRs show functional enrichment of status-related expression differences associated with aging. Lipid metabolism and oxidative phosphorylation - molecular networks known to be linked to aging - were identified among most affected gene sets. Further, a transcriptome pattern associated with longevity is reinforced in NMR breeders contradicting the disposable soma theory of aging and potentially contributing to their exceptional long life- and healthspan.

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Bens, M., Szafranski, K., Holtze, S., Sahm, A., Groth, M., Kestler, H. A., Hildebrandt, T. B., Platzer, M.. 2017-11-20. Naked mole-rat transcriptome signatures of socially-suppressed sexual maturation and links of reproduction to aging. https://doi.org/10.1101/221333

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