Red squirrels age related changes
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ABSTRACT: Metabolomics has recently been used to document age-related changes in key metabolic pathways in laboratory animals and as a biomarker to predict age. We study the ecology, evolution, behavior, and physiology of wild North American red squirrels where we are able to follow individual squirrels across their lifetime from birth until death. We are beginning to document aging in this natural population and are interested in understanding whether there is a signature of aging using metabolomics. We collected plasma samples from the oldest female and male squirrels in our study population and also from an equivalent number of younger squirrels. We will use an untargeted approach to provide an assessment of what metabolites differ among very old and young squirrels. The aim of these analyses is to allow us to identify if the same metabolites that have been identified as biomarkers of advanced age from laboratory mice are also biomarkers of advanced age in red squirrels. After we complete these untargeted analyses, we aim to develop a metabolomics panel for this species so that we can use a more targeted approach to assess how the metabolic profiles of specific pathways (glucose/fatty acid metabolism, redox homeostasis) change with age in offspring exposed to increased perinatal stress in our study species.
INSTRUMENT(S): QTOF
ORGANISM(S): Squirrel Tamiasciurus Hudsonicus
TISSUE(S): Blood
SUBMITTER: Maureen Kachman
PROVIDER: ST000724 | MetabolomicsWorkbench | Mon Jun 19 00:00:00 BST 2017
REPOSITORIES: MetabolomicsWorkbench
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