Deletion of Nrip1 extends female mice longevity, increases autophagy, and delays cell senescence.

Jinyu Wang
Xundi Chen
Jared Osland
D Skyler Gerber
Chao Luan
Kristin Delfino
Leslie Goodwin, The Jackson Laboratory
Rong Yuan

Abstract

Using age of female sexual maturation as a biomarker, we previously identified nuclear receptor interacting protein 1 (Nrip1) as a candidate gene that may regulate aging and longevity. In the current report, we found that the deletion of Nrip1 can significantly extend longevity of female mice (log rank test, P=0.0004). We also found that Nrip1 expression is altered differently in various tissues during aging and under diet restriction. Remarkably, Nrip1 expression is elevated with aging in visceral white adipose tissue (WAT), but significantly reduced after four months of diet restriction. However, in gastrocnemius muscle, Nrip1 expression is significantly upregulated after the diet restriction. In mouse embryonic fibroblasts, we found that the deletion of Nrip1 can suppress fibroblast proliferation, enhance autophagy under normal culture or amino acid starvation conditions, as well as delay oxidative and replicative senescence. Importantly, in WAT of old animals, the deletion of the Nrip could significantly upregulate autophagy and reduce the number of senescent cells. These results suggest that deleting Nrip1 can extend female longevity, but tissue-specific deletion may have varying effects on healthspan. The deletion of Nrip1 in WAT may delay senescence in WAT and extend healthspan. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2018 Jan 13 [Epub ahead of print]