Senescence-Associated ß-Galactosidase as a Senescence Biomarker Showed in Rat Hippocampus

Objective: To investigated the activity of SA-ß-GAL in rat hippocampus at different ages. Method: Hippocampus of 6, 18 and 24 month-age rats were observed by histochemical staining for SA-ß-GAL and cytochemical staining for SA-ß-GAL on prolong cultured hippocampal neurons. Results: SA-ß-GAL activity elevated in hippocampal pyramidal cells of CA3 region with advanced age. The upregulated SA-ß-GAL activity was accompanied by an increase prolong period of cultured hippocampal neurons. Interestingly, the staining of SA-ß-GAL was strikingly low in dentate gyrus, where the granules cells neurogenesis of rat from 6 to 18 and 24 month-age. Conclusion: These results suggested that SA-ß-GAL showed the senescent neurons in hippocampus, moreover, SA-ß-GAL is probably a potential tool to detect the neurogenesis pool in adult brain.