Negligible senescence in the longest living rodent, the naked mole-rat: insights from a successfully aging species
Abstract
Aging refers to a gradual deterioration in function that, over time, leads to increased mortality risk, and declining fertility. This pervasive process occurs in almost all organisms, although some long-lived trees and cold water inhabitants reportedly show insignificant aging. Negligible senescence is characterized by attenuated age-related change in reproductive and physiological functions, as well as no observable age-related gradual increase in mortality rate. It was questioned whether the longest living rodent, the naked mole-rat, met these three strict criteria. Naked mole-rats live in captivity for more than 28.3 years, approximately 9 times longer than similar-sized mice. They maintain body composition from 2 to 24 years, and show only slight age-related changes in all physiological and morphological characteristics studied to date. Surprisingly breeding females show no decline in fertility even when well into their third decade of life. Moreover, these animals have never been observed to develop any spontaneous neoplasm. As such they do not show the typical age-associated acceleration in mortality risk that characterizes every other known mammalian species and may therefore be the first reported mammal showing negligible senescence over the majority of their long lifespan. Clearly physiological and biochemical processes in this species have evolved to dramatically extend healthy lifespan. The challenge that lies ahead is to understand what these mechanisms are.
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With aging, naked mole rats do not lose their physiological functions, and their mortality does not increase significantly.
“With aging, naked mole rats will not lose their physiological functions, and their mortality will not increase significantly.310”
From Inflammation and aging: signaling pathways and intervention therapies (2023) · cites this paper as [310]
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- Authors
- Buffenstein, R.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Buffenstein, Rochelle
- Venue
- Journal of Comparative Physiology B
- Published
- 2008-01-08
- Volume
- 178
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 439-445
- ISSN
- 0174-1578 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-136X
- OpenAlex
- W2063526462
- Cited by
- 487
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 54 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 40 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 1.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of Comparative Physiology B (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG022891, AG022891)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- negligible senescence, naked mole-rat, aging, longevity, mortality rates, fertility, body composition, healthy lifespan extension, physiological aging
- MeSH terms
- Aging, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Female, Longevity, Male, Reproduction, Biomarkers, Cellular Senescence, Mole Rats
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