Research Paper Volume 8, Issue 1 pp 147—155
DNA damage markers in dermal fibroblasts in vitro reflect chronological donor age
- 1 Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, the Netherlands
- 2 Department for Life Quality Studies, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
- 3 Department of Public Health and Center for Healthy Aging, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1123 Copenhagen, Denmark
- 4 Department of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands
- 5 Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Aging, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands
- 6 Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA
- 7 Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
- 8 Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Gerontology and Geriatrics, VU University Medical Center, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 9 Department of Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC 3050, Australia
Received: December 11, 2015 Accepted: January 18, 2016 Published: January 30, 2016
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.100890How to Cite
Abstract
The aging process is accompanied by an accumulation of cellular damage, which compromises the viability and function of cells and tissues. We aim to further explore the association between in vitro DNA damage markers and the chronological age of the donor, as well as long-lived family membership and presence of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, numbers of 53BP1 foci, telomere-associated foci (TAF) and micronuclei were measured in cultured dermal fibroblasts obtained from three age groups of donors (mean age 22, 63 and 90 years). Fibroblasts were cultured without a stressor and with 0.6 μM rotenone for 3 days. We found that 53BP1 foci and TAF were more frequently present in fibroblasts of old donors compared to middle-aged and young donors. No association between micronuclei and donor age was found. Within the fibroblasts of the middle-aged donors we did not find associations between DNA damage markers and long-lived family membership or cardiovascular disease. Results were comparable when fibroblasts were stressedin vitro with rotenone. In conclusion, we found that DNA damage foci of cultured fibroblasts are significantly associated with the chronological age, but not biological age, of the donor.