title: An age-induced switch to a hyper-recombinational state.
abstract: There is a strong correlation between age and cancer, but the mechanism by which this phenomenon occurs is unclear. We chose Saccharomyces cerevisiae to examine one of the hallmarks of cancer--genomic instability--as a function of cellular age. As diploid yeast mother cells aged, an approximately 100-fold increase in loss of heterozygosity (LOH) occurred. Extending life-span altered neither the onset nor the frequency of age-induced LOH; the switch to hyper-LOH appears to be on its own clock. In young cells, LOH occurs by reciprocal recombination, whereas LOH in old cells was nonreciprocal, occurring predominantly in the old mother's progeny. Thus, nuclear genomes may be inherently unstable with age.
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D016922:Cellular Senescence; D003547:Cysteine Synthase; D004261:DNA Replication; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004171:Diploidy; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D006655:Histone Deacetylases / Q000235:genetics; D019656:Loss of Heterozygosity; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes; D009154:Mutation; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D038281:Silent Information Regulator Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D056565:Sirtuin 2; D037761:Sirtuins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C105579:FOB1 protein, S cerevisiae; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D038281:Silent Information Regulator Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D003547:Cysteine Synthase; C103381:MET17 protein, S cerevisiae; C087778:SIR2 protein, S cerevisiae; D056565:Sirtuin 2; D037761:Sirtuins; D006655:Histone Deacetylases