title: The short-lived fish Nothobranchius furzeri as a new model system for aging studies.
abstract: Genetic and pharmacological research on aging is hampered by the lifespan of available vertebrate models. We recently initiated studies on Nothobranchius furzeri, a species with a maximum life expectancy in captivity of just three months which represents the shortest documented captive lifespan for a vertebrate. Further research on N. furzeri has demonstrated that 1. Short lifespan is tied with explosive growth and accelerated sexual maturation. 2. Short lifespan is correlated with expression of age-related behavioral and histological changes. 3. Lifespan and expression of age-related markers can be modulated by water temperature. 4. Resveratrol, a drug characterized for its life-extending action in Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila, increases lifespan and retards expression of age-related markers. 5. Aging-related genes can be easily isolated by homology cloning. Finally, different populations or species of Nothobranchius show large-scale differences in captive lifespan. In the last three years, N. furzeri has moved from biological curiosity to a promising model system for drug validation. Furthermore, this species occupies a favorable position in the Teleost's "tree of life". It is very close to the Japanese Medaka, and close to the pufferfishes and stickleback and might represent a very useful model for comparative genomics of aging.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Neuroscienze del CNR, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Terzibasi
authors.forename: Dario Riccardo
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Valenzano
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cellerino
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics*; D023421:Models, Animal; D008957:Models, Genetic; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000502:physiology