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Utah's Foremost Platform for Undergraduate Research Presentation
2018 Abstracts

The Influence of Germ Cell-Depleted Ovaries on Longevity

Kyleigh Tyler, Utah State University

In many species, including humans, a decline in reproductive ability is associated with many deleterious health conditions. Some species maintain reproductive ability throughout life, and reproductive decline is often associated with the end of life. Ovary function in particular seems to be correlated in longevity. Previous studies suggest that preserved ovarian function is correlated with increased mean lifespan; however, the role of the germ cells within the ovary is not well understood To investigate the relationship between germ cells and somatic cells and their role in expanding longevity, this project measured the life span of 17-month-old mice that received either germ cell-containing ovaries or germ cell-depleted (somatic-only) ovaries. In this experiment, young, germ cell-containing and germ cell-depleted ovaries from 60-day-old mice were transplanted into 17-month-old mice. Life span was then observed and contrasted with the mean life span in this line of female mice (644 days). In the recipient mice that possessed germ cell-containing ovaries, life span increased by 10%. This result was similar to previous experiments where mice received transplants at 11 months of age and life span was increased by 11%, suggesting the age at transplant had little influence on remaining life span. However, when germ cells were depleted from the young ovaries prior to transplantation, life span was increased by 21%. These results suggest that somatic cells have a major role in longevity and that the germ cells were not essential for reproduction-directed extension of life span. While germ cell-depleted ovaries lacked germ cells, the somatic cells remained intact and functional. This may indicate that somatic cell function is necessary within ovaries to produce and increase in life span as seen with other studies. From these results, germ cell depletion can be concluded to significantly increase lifespan within our mice subjects. Germ cell-depleted ovaries lead to increased lifespan and health span. Further experiments will be done in order to analyze ovary effect on longevity. Current experiments are being conducted to analyze in what ways ovaries influence longevity and overall health. This question is the basis for experiments currently being conducted.