| Title: |
Naked mole-rat mortality rates defy Gompertzian laws by not increasing with age |
| Authors: |
J Graham Ruby; Megan Smith; Rochelle Buffenstein |
| Source: |
eLife, Vol 7 (2018) |
| Publisher Information: |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| Publication Year: |
2018 |
| Collection: |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
| Subject Terms: |
naked mole-rat; Gompertz; aging; Heterocephalus glaber; Medicine; Science; Biology (General); QH301-705.5 |
| Description: |
The longest-lived rodent, the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), has a reported maximum lifespan of >30 years and exhibits delayed and/or attenuated age-associated physiological declines. We questioned whether these mouse-sized, eusocial rodents conform to Gompertzian mortality laws by experiencing an exponentially increasing risk of death as they get older. We compiled and analyzed a large compendium of historical naked mole-rat lifespan data with >3000 data points. Kaplan-Meier analyses revealed a substantial portion of the population to have survived at 30 years of age. Moreover, unlike all other mammals studied to date, and regardless of sex or breeding-status, the age-specific hazard of mortality did not increase with age, even at ages 25-fold past their time to reproductive maturity. This absence of hazard increase with age, in defiance of Gompertz’s law, uniquely identifies the naked mole-rat as a non-aging mammal, confirming its status as an exceptional model for biogerontology. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
https://elifesciences.org/articles/31157; https://doaj.org/toc/2050-084X; e31157; https://doaj.org/article/0794a511998b47bf9dcdfbf7c6f1a9b2 |
| DOI: |
10.7554/eLife.31157 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.31157; https://doaj.org/article/0794a511998b47bf9dcdfbf7c6f1a9b2 |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.184F4CF4 |
| Database: |
BASE |