Featured Review Cellscience Reviews Vol 4 No 2 ISSN 1742-8130

Proficiency of DNA Repair Networks in Stem Cells as Determinants of Aging

Cells are constantly assaulted by a variety of endogenous and exogenous DNA damaging agents. The resultant damage is detected by an extensive set of networks known as DNA damage checkpoints which arrest the cell cycle in order to repair DNA damages to maintain genomic integrity and prevent cell transformation. It is well known that mice deficient for DNA repair genes have a greater propensity to develop cancers due to the accumulation of genomic instability. Interestingly, DNA repair-deficient mice also develop a set of phenotypes resembling precocious aging, suggesting that the efficiency of DNA repair can be a rate-limiting factor for aging. The link between DNA repair and premature aging has recently become more comprehensible with studies that demonstrated the dysfunction of stem cell in DNA repair deficient mice Since stem cell function is negatively correlated with the rate of aging, the interplay between DNA repair, stem cells and aging is becoming more apparent. The focus of this review is to discuss how the proficiency of DNA repair pathways can affect the function of stem cells to determine the rate of organismal aging.

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