Secrets from immortal worms: What can we learn about biological ageing from the planarian model system?

Journal article

Understanding how some animals are immortal and avoid the ageing process is important. We currently know very little about how they achieve this. While research in genetic model systems has revealed the existence of conserved genetic pathways and molecular processes that affect longevity. Most of these studies have been performed in established model organisms, amenable to both classical and molecular genetic approaches, with relatively short lifespans. Here we consider the use of planarians, with an immortal life-history that is able to entirely avoid the ageing process. These animals are capable of profound feats of regeneration fueled by a population of adult stem cells called neoblasts. These cells are capable of indefinite self-renewal that has underpinned the evolution of animals that reproduce only by fission, having disposed of the germline, and must therefore be somatically immortal and avoid the ageing process. How they do this is only starting to be understood. Here we suggest that the evidence so far supports the hypothesis that the lack of aging is an emergent property of being highly regenerative and the evolution of highly effective mechanisms for ensuring genome stability in the neoblast stem cell population. The details of these mechanisms could prove to be very informative in understanding how the causes of ageing can be avoided, slowed or even reversed.

Authors: Sahu, S; Dattani, A; Aboobaker, A

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Journal: Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
• Volume: 70
• Pages: 108-121
• Publication date: 2017-08-15
• Acceptance date: 2017-08-09
• DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2017.08.028
• EISSN: 1096-3634
• ISSN: 1084-9521
• Pmid: 28818620
• Language: English
• Keywords: regeneration; neoblasts; self-renewal; tumour suppressor; genome stability; stem cells