Nontraditional systems in aging research: an update

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Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences

REVIEW

Nontraditional systems in aging research: an update Justyna Mikuła‑Pietrasik1 · Martyna Pakuła2 · Małgorzata Markowska2 · Paweł Uruski2 · Ludwina Szczepaniak‑Chicheł2 · Andrzej Tykarski2 · Krzysztof Książek1  Received: 28 February 2020 / Revised: 15 September 2020 / Accepted: 28 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020

Abstract Research on the evolutionary and mechanistic aspects of aging and longevity has a reductionist nature, as the majority of knowledge originates from experiments on a relatively small number of systems and species. Good examples are the studies on the cellular, molecular, and genetic attributes of aging (senescence) that are primarily based on a narrow group of somatic cells, especially fibroblasts. Research on aging and/or longevity at the organismal level is dominated, in turn, by experiments on Drosophila melanogaster, worms (Caenorhabditis elegans), yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and higher organisms such as mice and humans. Other systems of aging, though numerous, constitute the minority. In this review, we collected and discussed a plethora of up-to-date findings about studies of aging, longevity, and sometimes even immortality in several valuable but less frequently used systems, including bacteria (Caulobacter crescentus, Escherichia coli), invertebrates (Turritopsis dohrnii, Hydra sp., Arctica islandica), fishes (Nothobranchius sp., Greenland shark), reptiles (giant tortoise), mammals (blind mole rats, naked mole rats, bats, elephants, killer whale), and even 3D organoids, to prove that they offer biogerontologists as much as the more conventional tools. At the same time, the diversified knowledge gained owing to research on those species may help to reconsider aging from a broader perspective, which should translate into a better understanding of this tremendously complex and clearly system-specific phenomenon. Keywords  Aging · Immortal animals · Longevity · Long-lived species · Systems of aging

Introduction * Krzysztof Książek [email protected] Justyna Mikuła‑Pietrasik [email protected] Martyna Pakuła [email protected] Małgorzata Markowska [email protected] Paweł Uruski [email protected] Ludwina Szczepaniak‑Chicheł [email protected] Andrzej Tykarski [email protected] 1



Department of Pathophysiology of Ageing and Civilization Diseases, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Długa 1/2 Str., 61‑848 Poznań, Poland



Department of Hypertensiology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Długa 1/2 Str., 61‑848 Poznań, Poland

2

Aging is a phenomenon that may be considered from different perspectives (evolution, mechanisms) and at different levels of organization (populations, individuals, tissues/ organs, cells, macromolecules). According to the book Evolutionary Biology of Aging, this term refers to “a persistent decline in the age-specific fitness components of an organism due to internal physiological deterioration” [1]. Clearly, diversified nature of aging was the prime reason of the unpredictable traje