title: Memory decline of aging reduced by extracellular superoxide dismutase overexpression.
abstract: Extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) plays an important role in controlling oxidative stress as well as intercellular signaling. In the current study, we tested the effect of EC-SOD overexpression over the lifespan of a set of mice and their wild-type controls to determine the time scale over which EC-SOD overexpression might attenuate aging-induced memory impairment. Mice with overexpression of EC-SOD and wild-type controls were initially trained on the radial-arm maze as young adults (3-5 months) and then retrained during middle age (12-14 months) and retested in old age at 27 and 30 months. There was little EC-SOD effect during the young adult middle age periods. EC-SOD overexpression prevented the decline in choice accuracy when the mice were 27-30 months of age. The EC-SOD overexpressing mice maintained their performance, while the wild-type mice declined to naïve levels of performance by 30 months of age. Enhancement of EC-SOD activity appears to improve memory performance specifically in aging mice. EC-SOD mimetic treatment during the course of aging may hold promise for aging-induced cognitive impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA. edlevin@duke.edu
authors.forename: Edward D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.forename: N Channelle
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Christopher
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Crapo
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005838:Genotype; D018782:Maze Learning; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D013482:Superoxide Dismutase