title: Chromatin regulation of DNA damage repair and genome integrity in the central nervous system.
abstract: With the continued extension of lifespan, aging and age-related diseases have become a major medical challenge to our society. Aging is accompanied by changes in multiple systems. Among these, the aging process in the central nervous system is critically important but very poorly understood. Neurons, as post-mitotic cells, are devoid of replicative associated aging processes, such as senescence and telomere shortening. However, because of the inability to self-replenish, neurons have to withstand challenge from numerous stressors over their lifetime. Many of these stressors can lead to damage of the neurons' DNA. When the accumulation of DNA damage exceeds a neuron's capacity for repair, or when there are deficiencies in DNA repair machinery, genome instability can manifest. The increased mutation load associated with genome instability can lead to neuronal dysfunction and ultimately to neuron degeneration. In this review, we first briefly introduce the sources and types of DNA damage and the relevant repair pathways in the nervous system (summarized in Fig. 1). We then discuss the chromatin regulation of these processes and summarize our understanding of the contribution of genomic instability to neurodegenerative diseases.
authors.affiliation: Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Penney
authors.affiliation: Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Electronic address: lhtsai@mit.edu.
authors.forename: Li-Huei
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Tsai
mesh_terms: D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics*; D042822:Genomic Instability / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000235:genetics; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin
keywords: DNA damage response; DNA repair; central nervous system; histone modifications; neurodegenerative diseases