Differential expression of aging biomarkers at different life stages of the annual fish Nothobranchius guentheri.

Short-lived vertebrates such as annual fishes serve as model organisms for gaining insights into the mechanisms of aging, but the study on the changes in age-related markers during the normal aging of the annual fish Nothobranchius guentheri, one of the earliest fish models for aging research, remains open. This study was undertaken to examine the changes in the expression of age-related markers at the different developmental stages of N. guentheri, and to evaluate its suitability as a model organism for aging studies. Here we clearly demonstrated that the expression of senescence-associated β-galactosidase and accumulation of lipofuscin increased with age. Similarly, the protein oxidation and lipid peroxidation also increased with age. By contrast, the activities of catalase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase decreased with age, while the activity of telomerase showed no apparent change with age. Taken together, these data suggest that the annual fish N. guentheri can be a suitable model for aging studies. It also provides a set of biomarkers that can be used to trace the process of normal tissue aging in N. guentheri.