Scientists of the Institute of Biological Studies Street in the United States have found their own mechanisms that protect them from aging and damage in human brain nervous cells. By this they compensate for the disadvantage in replication (copying – approx. “Tape.ru”) DNA and, thereby are the most long-lived cells. The results of scientific work are published in the SCIENCE journal.
It is known that neurons are able to restore damage in the genome, supporting their functions throughout human life. At the same time, as agreed, the efficiency of genetic recovery begins to decline, which explains the high risk of neurodegenerative diseases in a person with age.
In a new study, scientists used the new REPAIR-SEQ technology. Neurons were grown from stem cells and cultured on a mixture of synthetic nucleosides serving “building blocks” for DNA. The fact of embedding of nucleosides in the genome could be determined by sequencing (deciphering the nucleotide sequence of DNA – approx. “Tape.ru”) and visualization. It turned out that neurons are focused on the restoration of certain DNA sites called by the researchers with hot dots.
Interestingly, proteins that are encoded by genes in these hot spots are associated with neurodegenerative diseases and aging. In total, 65 thousand such sites were discovered, constituting about two percent of the neurons genome. Some identified proteins are involved in splicing, that is, ripening RNA carrying information about other proteins.