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Research Paper|Volume 12, Issue 3|pp 2711—2722

Dasatinib plus quercetin prevents uterine age-related dysfunction and fibrosis in mice

Marcelo B. Cavalcante1,2, Tatiana D. Saccon1,3, Allancer D.C. Nunes1, James L. Kirkland4, Tamara Tchkonia4, Augusto Schneider3, Michal M. Masternak1
  • 1Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32827, USA
  • 2Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Fortaleza, Fortaleza 60811-905, CE, Brazil
  • 3Faculdade de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas 96010-610, RS, Brazil
  • 4Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
Received: November 5, 2019Accepted: January 12, 2020Published: January 18, 2020
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.102772

Copyright: © 2020 Cavalcante et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

The uterine fibrosis contributes to gestational outcomes. Collagen deposition in the uterus is related to uterine aging. Senolytic therapies are an option for reducing health complications related to aging. We investigated effects of aging and the senolytic drug combination of dasatinib plus quercetin (D+Q) on uterine fibrosis. Forty mice, 20 young females (03-months) and 20 old females (18-months), were analyzed. Young (Y) and old (O) animals were divided into groups of 10 mice, with one treatment (T) group (YT and OT) and another control © group (YC and OC). Comparative analysis of Pi3k/Akt1/mTor and p53 gene expression and related microRNAs (miR34a, miR34b, miR34c, miR146a, miR449a, miR21a, miR126a, and miR181b) among groups was performed to test effects of age and treatment on collagen deposition pathways. Aging promoted downregulation of the Pi3k/Akt1/mTor signaling pathway (P = 0.005, P = 0.031, and P = 0.028, respectively) as well as a reduction in expression of miR34c (P = 0.029), miR126a (P = 0.009), and miR181b (P = 0.007). D+Q treatment increased p53 gene expression (P = 0.041) and decreased miR34a (P = 0.016). Our results demonstrate a role for the Pi3k/Akt1/mTor signaling pathway in uterine aging and suggest for the first time a possible anti-fibrotic effect in the uterus of D+Q senolytic therapy.