title: Mechanisms of aging in senescence-accelerated mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Progressive neurological dysfunction is a key aspect of human aging. Because of underlying differences in the aging of mice and humans, useful mouse models have been difficult to obtain and study. We have used gene-expression analysis and polymorphism screening to study molecular senescence of the retina and hippocampus in two rare inbred mouse models of accelerated neurological senescence (SAMP8 and SAMP10) that closely mimic human neurological aging, and in a related normal strain (SAMR1) and an unrelated normal strain (C57BL/6J).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of age-related gene expression changes were strain-specific, with only a few common pathways found for normal and accelerated neurological aging. Polymorphism screening led to the identification of mutations that could have a direct impact on important disease processes, including a mutation in a fibroblast growth factor gene, Fgf1, and a mutation in and ectopic expression of the gene for the chemokine CCL19, which is involved in the inflammatory response.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We show that combining the study of inbred mouse strains with interesting traits and gene-expression profiling can lead to the discovery of genes important for complex phenotypes. Furthermore, full-genome polymorphism detection, sequencing and gene-expression profiling of inbred mouse strains with interesting phenotypic differences may provide unique insights into the molecular genetics of late-manifesting complex diseases.
authors.affiliation: The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. tcarter@salk.edu
authors.forename: Todd A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Greenhall
authors.forename: Shigeo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Helton
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Swaroop
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lockhart
authors.forename: Carrolee
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barlow
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology; D054415:Chemokine CCL19; D019742:Chemokines, CC / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D033481:Chromosomes, Mammalian / Q000235:genetics; D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D051379:Mice; D008806:Mice, Inbred AKR; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D009420:Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: C515460:CCL19 protein, human; C515461:Ccl19 protein, mouse; D054415:Chemokine CCL19; D019742:Chemokines, CC; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1