An aging-independent replicative lifespan in a symmetrically dividing eukaryote

Abstract
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Abstract

The replicative lifespan (RLS) of a cell-defined as the number of cell divisions before death-has informed our understanding of the mechanisms of cellular aging. However, little is known about aging and longevity in symmetrically dividing eukaryotic cells because most prior studies have used budding yeast for RLS studies. Here, we describe a multiplexed fission yeast lifespan micro-dissector (multFYLM) and an associated image processing pipeline for performing high-throughput and automated single-cell micro-dissection. Using the multFYLM, we observe continuous replication of hundreds of individual fission yeast cells for over seventy-five generations. Surprisingly, cells die without the classic hallmarks of cellular aging, such as progressive changes in size, doubling time, or sibling health. Genetic perturbations and drugs can extend the RLS via an aging-independent mechanism. Using a quantitative model to analyze these results, we conclude that fission yeast does not age and that cellular aging and replicative lifespan can be uncoupled in a eukaryotic cell.

Data availability

The following previously published data sets were used

1. Wood et al.
(2002) The genome sequence of Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Publicly available at the NCBI Nucleotide (sccession no: CU329670.1).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/CU329670.1
1. Wood et al.
(2002) The genome sequence of Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Publicly available at the NCBI Nucleotide (sccession no: CU329671.1).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/CU329671.1
1. Wood et al.
(2002) The genome sequence of Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Publicly available at the NCBI Nucleotide (sccession no: CU329672.1).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/CU329672.1

Article and author information

Author details

Eric C Spivey

Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-4080-8616
Stephen K Jones

Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
James R Rybarski

Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Fatema A Saifuddin

Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Ilya J Finkelstein

Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States

For correspondence
ifinkelstein@cm.utexas.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-9371-2431

Funding

American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR-020)

Eric C Spivey
Stephen K Jones
James R Rybarski
Fatema A Saifuddin
Ilya J Finkelstein

National Institute on Aging (F32 AG053051)

Stephen K Jones

Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (R1214)

James R Rybarski
Fatema A Saifuddin
Ilya J Finkelstein

Welch Foundation (F-l808)

Eric C Spivey
Stephen K Jones
James R Rybarski
Fatema A Saifuddin
Ilya J Finkelstein

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.