Aging and neurodegeneration are associated with increased mutations in single human neurons

It has long been hypothesized that aging and neurodegeneration are associated with somatic mutation in neurons; however, methodological hurdles have prevented testing this hypothesis directly. We used single-cell whole-genome sequencing to perform genome-wide somatic single-nucleotide variant (sSNV) identification on DNA from 161 single neurons from the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of 15 normal individuals (aged 4 months to 82 years), as well as 9 individuals affected by early-onset neurodegeneration due to genetic disorders of DNA repair (Cockayne syndrome and xeroderma pigmentosum). sSNVs increased approximately linearly with age in both areas (with a higher rate in hippocampus) and were more abundant in neurodegenerative disease. The accumulation of somatic mutations with age—which we term genosenium—shows age-related, region-related, and disease-related molecular signatures and may be important in other human age-associated conditions.

Source: ScienceNOW - February 1, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Lodato, M. A., Rodin, R. E., Bohrson, C. L., Coulter, M. E., Barton, A. R., Kwon, M., Sherman, M. A., Vitzthum, C. M., Luquette, L. J., Yandava, C. N., Yang, P., Chittenden, T. W., Hatem, N. E., Ryu, S. C., Woodworth, M. B., Park, P. J., Walsh, C. A. Tags: Neuroscience reports Source Type: news