Molecular and Biochemical Analyses of Aging Hallmarks in the Central Nervous System of the Fast-Aging African Turquoise Killifish
- Steven Bergmans1,3,
- Sophie Vanhunsel1,3,
- Caroline Zandecki2,
- Eve Seuntjens2,
- Lies De Groef1 and
- Lieve Moons1,4
- 1Neural Circuit Development and Regeneration Research Group, Animal Physiology and Neurobiology Division, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- 2Developmental Biology Research Group, Animal Physiology and Neurobiology Division, Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- ↵4Correspondence: lieve.moons{at}kuleuven.be
-
↵3 These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract
As modern society is graying, aging research and biogerontology models, in which the aging process can be studied, are becoming increasingly important. A proper aging model can be defined as one that displays many of the aging hallmarks. Here, we provide two different practical approaches—namely, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting—that can be used to investigate cellular senescence (RT-qPCR for p21 and p27), altered intercellular communication/inflammaging (RT-qPCR for il-10, sirt-1, il-6, il-1b, il-8, and tnf), and oxidative stress (western blotting for 4-HNE) in the killifish central nervous system, and, more specifically, in the retina, optic tectum, and telencephalon. These molecular and biochemical analyses are a first step in confirming the aging characteristics but should preferably be combined with morphological analyses.
Footnotes
-
From the African Turquoise Killifish collection, edited by Anne Brunet.
