DNA Damage is a Part of Neural Plasticity, Complicating the Study of Its Relevance to Aging in the Brain

As noted by the authors of today's open access paper, there is ample evidence to show that double strand breaks in DNA occur during the normal activity of neurons, such as during the synaptic remodeling necessary to learning and memory. Evolution loves reuse, and few possibilities are ignored! This process of utilitarian double strand breaks appears to be used to ensure that nuclear DNA is spatially reconfigured in such a way as to ensure that certain genes are expressed for a time; recall that the pattern of gene expression at any given moment is very much a function of how the mass of nuclear DNA is packaged, which parts of it, and hence which gene sequences, are accessible at any given time to the machinery of transcription. This is all very interesting, as stochastic DNA damage, such as double strand breaks, is thought to have a role in degenerative aging. But if the process is taking place on a regular basis during the normal function of neurons, that makes it harder to study in the context of aging and neurodegeneration. On the one hand, DNA damage can spread through tissues from stem cells, and this happens in the brain even given the long-lived nature of neurons. On the other hand, recent research has suggested that the process of repairing repeated double strand breaks can produce some of the epigenetic change of aging as a side-effect, due to depletion of molecules needed to maintain a youthful configuration of nuclear DNA. More research is needed to fill o...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs