Some of the best clues to living a long, healthy life may be hidden in the DNA of bats, mammals that can survive for remarkably long periods relative to their body size. The idea fascinated Juan Manuel Vazquez while he was a graduate student at the University of Chicago. At the time, however, there was little published genomic information about bats that could help answer questions about longevity.
After becoming a UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow in 2020, he began searching across the Western U.S. for bat species that could provide tissue samples for DNA sequencing. With help from Berkeley undergraduates, Vazquez traveled throughout the region, setting up mist nets over streams, ponds and rivers at night. The team captured bats, collected small biopsy samples and released the animals.
Much of the work focused on the genus Myotis, which includes some species with exceptionally long lifespans. One Brandt's myotis, Myotis brandtii, was banded in Europe and then recaptured 50 years later. Bat Genomes Reveal a Longevity Connection In a new study published in Nature, Vazquez and his colleagues present the first analysis of eight Myotis genomes.
Their results point to a strong connection between lifespan and immune function. The longer-lived bats had higher levels of genes associated with fighting cancer. The findings suggest that longevity may depend in part on an immune system that remains highly effective against both infectious organisms and cancer.
Researchers also found substantial overlap between genes associated with aging and genes involved in disease defense, suggesting that studying one process could help explain the other. "Bats evolved to live for a long time without getting diseases, which suggests that we don't necessarily need to look at diseases of aging and diseases of infection as completely separate fields," Vazquez said. "We can look at these bats and try to understand how, in the same way you can improve your immune system to fight off viruses, maybe you can improve your immune system so it doesn't decline in old age.
Or maybe bats can help us find ways to fight off tumors so our immune system doesn't get tired, and that can also help us deal with other stresses of life and not exhaust our immunity." Damaged Bat Cells Choose Self-Destruction As part of the study, Vazquez grew cells collected from bat wing biopsies in the laboratory. (He currently has cell cultures from 259 individuals representing 32 species.) He then exposed the cultured cells to toxic chemicals to see how they responded to severe damage. The longest-lived bat in his sample, the widespread little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), reacted in an unexpected way. Instead of switching on genes that produce DNA repair proteins, the cells increased the activity of genes that promote cell death.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
