title: GIT2 acts as a potential keystone protein in functional hypothalamic networks associated with age-related phenotypic changes in rats.
abstract: The aging process affects every tissue in the body and represents one of the most complicated and highly integrated inevitable physiological entities. The maintenance of good health during the aging process likely relies upon the coherent regulation of hormonal and neuronal communication between the central nervous system and the periphery. Evidence has demonstrated that the optimal regulation of energy usage in both these systems facilitates healthy aging. However, the proteomic effects of aging in regions of the brain vital for integrating energy balance and neuronal activity are not well understood. The hypothalamus is one of the main structures in the body responsible for sustaining an efficient interaction between energy balance and neurological activity. Therefore, a greater understanding of the effects of aging in the hypothalamus may reveal important aspects of overall organismal aging and may potentially reveal the most crucial protein factors supporting this vital signaling integration. In this study, we examined alterations in protein expression in the hypothalami of young, middle-aged, and old rats. Using novel combinatorial bioinformatics analyses, we were able to gain a better understanding of the proteomic and phenotypic changes that occur during the aging process and have potentially identified the G protein-coupled receptor/cytoskeletal-associated protein GIT2 as a vital integrator and modulator of the normal aging process.
authors.affiliation: Receptor Pharmacology Unit, Laboratory of Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Biomedical Research Center, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chadwick
authors.forename: Bronwen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Megan C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chapter
authors.forename: Sung-Soo
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Liyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Caitlin M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Daimon
authors.forename: Randall
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brenneman
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maudsley
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D020543:Proteome / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins; C549219:Git2 protein, rat; D020543:Proteome