Genome sequencing reveals insights into physiology and longevity of the naked mole rat

作者：Eun Bae Kim, Xiaodong Fang, Alexey A. Fushan, Zhiyong Huang, Alexei Lobanov, Lijuan Han, Stefano M. Marino, Xiaoqing Sun, Anton A. Turanov, Pengcheng Yang, Sun Hee Yim, Xiang Zhao, Marina V. Kasaikina, Nina Stoletzki, Chunfang Peng, Paz Polak, Zhiqiang Xiong, Adam Kieżun, Yabing Zhu, Yuanxin Chen, Gregory V. Kryukov, Qiang Zhang, Leonid Peshkin, Lan Yang, Roderick T. Bronson, Rochelle Buffenstein, Bo Wang, Changlei Han, Qiye Li, Li Chen, Wei Zhao, Shamil Sunyaev, Thomas J. Park, Guojie Zhang, Jun Wang, Vadim N. Gladyshev · 发表于：Nature · 年份：2011 · DOI：10.1038/nature10533 · 被引用次数：621 · 研究领域：Mitochondrial Function and Pathology、Evolution and Paleontology Studies、Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms

The mouse-sized naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is a very unusual mammal. It is a social animal, living in groups in burrows beneath arid African deserts. It can live for 30 or more years in atmospheres with low oxygen and high carbon dioxide, and is remarkably resistant to cancer. So the genome sequence, published in this issue, might be expected to contain some intriguing characteristics. Analysis of the genome and its transcriptome reveals unusual genomic features and molecular adaptations including strategies for improved genome stability, low mutation rate and improved protein maintenance. The data also reveal molecular adaptations consistent with poor visual function, poikilothermy, hairlessness, circadian rhythms, taste sensing and insensitivity to low oxygen. The naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is a strictly subterranean, extraordinarily long-lived eusocial mammal1. Although it is the size of a mouse, its maximum lifespan exceeds 30 years, making this animal the longest-living rodent. Naked mole rats show negligible senescence, no age-related increase in mortality, and high fecundity until death2. In addition to delayed ageing, they are resistant to both spontaneous cancer and experimentally induced tumorigenesis3,4. Naked mole rats pose a challenge to the theories that link ageing, cancer and redox homeostasis. Although characterized by significant oxidative stress5, the naked mole rat proteome does not show age-related susceptibility to oxidative damag...