PUBLICATION
Japanese medaka: A new vertebrate model for studying telomere and telomerase biology
- Authors
- Au, D.W., Mok, H.O., Elmore, L.W., and Holt, S.E.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-080922-3
- Date
- 2009
- Source
- Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Toxicology & pharmacology : CBP 149(2): 161-167 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Keywords
- aging, cancer, fish, telomerase, telomere, tissue regeneration
- MeSH Terms
-
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Animals
- Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
- Oryzias/genetics
- Oryzias/growth & development
- Oryzias/metabolism*
- Male
- Telomere/metabolism*
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Female
- Testis/enzymology
- Models, Biological*
- RNA, Messenger/metabolism
- Vertebrates/genetics
- Vertebrates/metabolism*
- Telomerase/genetics
- Telomerase/metabolism*
- Spleen/enzymology
- Phylogeny
- PubMed
- 18790082 Full text @ Comp. Biochem. Physiol. C Toxicol. Pharmacol.
Citation
Au, D.W., Mok, H.O., Elmore, L.W., and Holt, S.E. (2009) Japanese medaka: A new vertebrate model for studying telomere and telomerase biology. Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Toxicology & pharmacology : CBP. 149(2):161-167.
Abstract
A good understanding of telomeres and telomerase biology is crucial for unraveling mechanisms related to aging and cancer. However, in vivo vertebrate studies of telomere biogenesis and telomerase function have been limited by the development of appropriate animal model systems. The present study aims to demonstrate evolutionary conservation of telomerase in vertebrate species, supporting the potential application of fish as vertebrate model for studying telomeres and telomerase function. Comparison of genomic and protein information among vertebrate TERTs (TElomerase Reverse Transcriptase), the Japanese medaka Oryzias latipes shares the highest similarity to that of the human than the other small size fish species studied (including pufferfish and zebrafish). The ubiquitous expression of TERT mRNA, the high constitutive level of telomerase activity, and the humanized telomere lengths further substantiate that Japanese medaka is an ideal vertebrate model for the study of telomere and telomerase-related mechanisms in vivo. Moreover, medaka exhibits fast, invariable growth and is able to provide a variety of useful developmental and reproductive endpoints for lifelong and multi-generational experiments. Our earlier and present findings support the use of medaka for studying organismal aging, tissue regeneration and carcinogenesis.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping