Reducing Double-strand DNA Break Repair Exacerbates Vascular Aging
10-18-2023“[...] this suggests a model where the accumulation of DNA damage with aging impairs vascular function ultimately resulting in [cardiovascular disease].”
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BUFFALO, NY- October 18, 2023 – A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 19, entitled, “Reduction of double-strand DNA break repair exacerbates vascular aging.”
Advanced age is the greatest risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death. Arterial function is impaired in advanced age which contributes to the development of CVD. One underexplored hypothesis is that DNA damage within arteries leads to this dysfunction, yet evidence demonstrating the incidence and physiological consequences of DNA damage in arteries, and in particular, in the microvasculature, in advanced age is limited.
In their new study, researchers Samuel I. Bloom, Jordan R. Tucker, Daniel R. Machin, Hossein Abdeahad, AdeLola O. Adeyemo, Tyler G. Thomas, R. Colton Bramwell, Lisa A. Lesniewski, and Anthony J. Donato from The University of Utah, Florida State University and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center-Salt Lake City began by assessing the abundance of DNA damage in human and mouse lung microvascular endothelial cells and found that aging increases the percentage of cells with DNA damage.
“To explore the physiological consequences of increases in arterial DNA damage, we evaluated measures of endothelial function, microvascular and glycocalyx properties, and arterial stiffness in mice that were lacking or heterozygous for the double-strand DNA break repair protein ATM kinase.”
Surprisingly, in young mice, vascular function remained unchanged which led the researchers to rationalize that perhaps aging is required to accumulate DNA damage. Indeed, in comparison to wild type littermate controls, mice heterozygous for ATM that were aged to ~18 mo (Old ATM +/−) displayed an accelerated vascular aging phenotype characterized by increases in arterial DNA damage, senescence signaling, and impairments in endothelium-dependent dilation due to elevated oxidative stress. Furthermore, old ATM +/− mice had reduced microvascular density and glycocalyx thickness as well as increased arterial stiffness.
“Collectively, these data demonstrate that DNA damage that accumulates in arteries in advanced age contributes to arterial dysfunction that is known to drive CVD.”
Read the full paper: DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.205066
Corresponding Author: Anthony J. Donato
Corresponding Email: tony.donato@utah.edu
Keywords: aging, DNA damage, vascular function, endothelial cell, senescence, oxidative stress, arterial stiffness
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About Aging-US:
Aging publishes research papers in all fields of aging research including but not limited, aging from yeast to mammals, cellular senescence, age-related diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s diseases and their prevention and treatment, anti-aging strategies and drug development and especially the role of signal transduction pathways such as mTOR in aging and potential approaches to modulate these signaling pathways to extend lifespan. The journal aims to promote treatment of age-related diseases by slowing down aging, validation of anti-aging drugs by treating age-related diseases, prevention of cancer by inhibiting aging. Cancer and COVID-19 are age-related diseases.
Aging is indexed by PubMed/Medline (abbreviated as “Aging (Albany NY)”), PubMed Central, Web of Science: Science Citation Index Expanded (abbreviated as “Aging‐US” and listed in the Cell Biology and Geriatrics & Gerontology categories), Scopus (abbreviated as “Aging” and listed in the Cell Biology and Aging categories), Biological Abstracts, BIOSIS Previews, EMBASE, META (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative) (2018-2022), and Dimensions (Digital Science).
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