RNA Sequencing Reveals Differential Expression of Mitochondrial and Oxidation Reduction Genes in the Long-Lived Naked Mole-Rat When Compared to Mice

Yu, ChuanfeiLi, YangHolmes, AndrewSzafranski, KarolFaulkes, Chris G.Coen, Clive W.Buffenstein, RochellePlatzer, Matthiasde Magalhães, João PedroChurch, George2022-07-222011-11-03Yu, Chuanfei, Yang Li, Andrew Holmes, Karol Szafranski, Chris G. Faulkes, Clive W. Coen, Rochelle Buffenstein et al. "RNA Sequencing Reveals Differential Expression of Mitochondrial and Oxidation Reduction Genes in the Long-Lived Naked Mole-Rat When Compared to Mice." PLoS ONE 6, no. 11 (2011): e26729. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.00267291932-6203https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37372812The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is a long-lived, cancer resistant rodent and there is a great interest in identifying the adaptations responsible for these and other of its unique traits. We employed RNA sequencing to compare liver gene expression profiles between naked mole-rats and wild-derived mice. Our results indicate that genes associated with oxidoreduction and mitochondria were expressed at higher relative levels in naked mole-rats. The largest effect is nearly 300-fold higher expression of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Epcam), a tumour-associated protein. Also of interest are the protease inhibitor, alpha2-macroglobulin (A2m), and the mitochondrial complex II subunit Sdhc, both ageing-related genes found strongly over-expressed in the naked mole-rat. These results hint at possible candidates for specifying species differences in ageing and cancer, and in particular suggest complex alterations in mitochondrial and oxidation reduction pathways in the naked mole-rat. Our differential gene expression analysis obviated the need for a reference naked mole-rat genome by employing a combination of Illumina/Solexa and 454 platforms for transcriptome sequencing and assembling transcriptome contigs of the non-sequenced species. Overall, our work provides new research foci and methods for studying the naked mole-rat's fascinating characteristics.en-USResearch Subject Categories::NATURAL SCIENCES::Biology::Cell and molecular biology::GeneticsResearch Subject Categories::MEDICINE::Chemistry::BiochemistryRNA Sequencing Reveals Differential Expression of Mitochondrial and Oxidation Reduction Genes in the Long-Lived Naked Mole-Rat When Compared to MiceJournal Article2017-08-0920112022-07-2210.1371/journal.pone.0026729