title: Mapping tissue-specific genes correlated with age-dependent changes in protein stability and function.
abstract: Biophysical measurements indicative of protein stability and function were performed on crude extracts from liver, muscle, and lens of a genetically heterogeneous mouse population. Genetic information was used to search for quantitative trait loci (QTL) that influenced the biophysical traits, with emphasis on phenotypes that previously have been shown to be altered in aged animals. Spectroscopic and enzymatic assays of crude liver and muscle tissue extracts from approximately 600 18-month-old mice, the progeny of (BALB/cJxC57BL/6J)F1 females and (C3H/HeJxDBA/2J)F1 males, were used to measure the susceptibility of a ubiquitous glycolytic enzyme, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), to thermal denaturation. The rate constant for thermal inactivation of GAPDH correlated with markers on chromosome 5 (D5Mit79 and D5Mit251) for muscle lysates and chromosome 15 (D15Mit63 and D15Mit100) for liver tissue. The degree of variability of inactivation rate constants, a measure of the heterogeneity of muscle GAPDH in tissue extracts, was also associated with markers on chromosome 5 (D5Mit79 and D5Mit205). In addition, spectroscopic characteristics of extracted eye lens proteins were evaluated for their susceptibility to photooxidative stress. Absorbance and fluorescence emission characteristics of the lens proteins were mapped to QTL on chromosomes 5 and 15 (D5Mit25 and D15Mit171) while the degree of heterogeneity in photochemical oxidation kinetics was associated with a marker on the chromosome 8 (D8Mit42). Recent work has shown that GAPDH possesses a number of non-glycolytic functions including DNA/RNA binding and regulation of protein expression. Tissue specific differences in GAPDH stability may have significant consequences to these alternate functions during aging.
authors.affiliation: Biophysics Research Division, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Wisser
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Schauerte
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galecki
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Ari
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gafni
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D005838:Genotype; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA; D010100:Oxygen