Lateral diffusion of membrane lipids changes with aging in C57BL mouse dorsal root ganglion neurons from a fetal stage to an aged stage.
The membranes of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons dissected from different age groups of C57BL mice, from 18-day fetal to 30-month-old mice, were labeled with the fluorescent analog of fatty acids, F18, after a day in culture. The fluorescent probe specifically labeled the cell surface. The lateral diffusion of F18 (5-(octadecylthiocarbamoylamino) fluorescein) was measured with fluorescence photobleaching recovery (FPR) method. During development, the lateral diffusion coefficients of F18 rapidly decreased from (0.34 +/- 0.07) X 10(-8) cm2/s (18-day-old fetus) to (0.22 +/- 0.07) X 10(-8) cm2/s (3-day-old newborn). Then the values slowly decreased and reached (0.13 +/- 0.05) X 10(-8) cm2/s in a 6-month-old stage. In stages older than 6-months the lateral diffusion coefficients scarcely changed with aging. As this decrease in the membrane fluidity with increasing age is parallelled to that in capacities of extending neurites, it is thought that the membrane fluidity might change with aging in concert with changes in important cell functions.
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008560:Membrane Fluidity; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL
D008563:Membrane Lipids