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Research Paper|Volume 3, Issue 12|pp 1192—1201

Robust nuclear lamina-based cell classification of aging and senescent cells

Christiaan H. Righolt2,4, Merel L.R. van 't Hoff1, Bart J. Vermolen2,3, Ian T. Young2, Vered Raz1
  • 1Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
  • 2Quantitative Imaging Group, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
  • 3Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Imaging Division, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
  • 4Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology, University of Manitoba, Cancer Care Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Received: December 20, 2011Accepted: December 23, 2011Published: December 24, 2011
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.100414

Copyright: © 2011 Righolt et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Changes in the shape of the nuclear lamina are exhibited in senescent cells, as well as in cells expressing mutations in lamina genes. To identify cells with defects in the nuclear lamina we developed an imaging method that quantifies the intensity and curvature of the nuclear lamina. We show that this method accurately describes changes in the nuclear lamina. Spatial changes in nuclear lamina coincide with redistribution of lamin A proteins and local reduction in protein mobility in senescent cell. We suggest that local accumulation of lamin A in the nuclear envelope leads to bending of the structure. A quantitative distinction of the nuclear lamina shape in cell populations was found between fresh and senescent cells, and between primary myoblasts from young and old donors. Moreover, with this method mutations in lamina genes were significantly distinct from cells with wild-type genes. We suggest that this method can be applied to identify abnormal cells during aging, in in vitro propagation, and in lamina disorders.