title: Genomic integrity and the ageing brain.
abstract: DNA damage is correlated with and may drive the ageing process. Neurons in the brain are postmitotic and are excluded from many forms of DNA repair; therefore, neurons are vulnerable to various neurodegenerative diseases. The challenges facing the field are to understand how and when neuronal DNA damage accumulates, how this loss of genomic integrity might serve as a 'time keeper' of nerve cell ageing and why this process manifests itself as different diseases in different individuals.
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science and State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.|Institute for Advanced Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Hei-man
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science and State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Herrup
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000235:genetics*; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics; D023281:Genomics / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology