BioProject

Calorie restriction (CR) enhances longevity and mitigates aging phenotypes in numerous species. More...

Calorie restriction (CR) enhances longevity and mitigates aging phenotypes in numerous species. Physiological responses to CR are cell-type specific and variable throughout the lifespan; however, the mosaic of molecular changes responsible CR benefits remain unclear, particularly in brain regions susceptible to deterioration throughout aging. Thus, we examined the influence of long-term CR on the CA1 hippocampal region, a key learning and memory brain area that is vulnerable to age-related pathologies, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Through mRNA sequencing and NanoString nCounter analysis, we demonstrate that one year of CR feeding suppresses an age-dependent signature of 882 genes functionally associated with synaptic transmission-related pathways, including calcium signaling, long-term potentiation (LTP), and Creb signaling in wild-type mice. By comparing the influence of CR on hippocampal CA1 region transcriptional profiles at younger- (5 months) and older-adult (15 months) timepoints, we identify conserved upregulation of proteome quality control and calcium buffering genes, including heat shock 70 kDa proteins 1b and 5 (Hspa1b and Hspa5), protein disulfide isomerase family A members 4 and 6 (Pdia4 and Pdia6), and calreticulin (Calr). Expression levels of putative neuroprotective factors, klotho (Kl) and transthyretin (Ttr), are also elevated by CR throughout adulthood, although the global CR-specific expression profiles at young and older timepoints are highly divergent. At a previously unachieved resolution, our results demonstrate conserved activation of neuroprotective gene signatures and broad CR-suppression of age-dependent hippocampal CA1 region expression changes, indicating that CR functionally maintains a more youthful transcriptional state within hippocampal CA1 throughout aging. Overall design: Hippocampal CA1 region mRNA profiles of younger- (5 months) and older-adult (15 months) mice on calorie-restricted (CR) and normal (AD) diets were generated by deep sequencing using Illumina HiSeq 2500. Less...