Protracted neuronal maturation in a long-lived, highly social rodent

Naked mole-rats are a long-lived rodent species (current lifespan >37 years) and an increasingly popular biomedical model. Naked mole-rats exhibit neuroplasticity across their long lifespan. Previous studies have begun to investigate their neurogenic patterns. Here, we test the hypothesis that neuronal maturation is extended in this long-lived rodent. We characterize cell proliferation and neuronal maturation in established rodent neurogenic regions over 12 months following seven days of consecutive BrdU injection. Given that naked molerats are eusocial (high reproductive skew where only a few socially-dominant individuals reproduce), we also looked at proliferation in brain regions relevant to the social-decision making network. Finally, we measured co-expression of EdU (newly-born cells), DCX (immature neuron marker), and NeuN (mature neuron marker) to assess the timeline of neuronal maturation in adult naked mole-rats. This work reaffirms the subventricular zone as the main source of adult cell proliferation and suggests conservation of the rostral migratory stream in this species. Our profiling of socially-relevant brain regions suggests that future work which manipulates environmental context can unveil how newly-born cells integrate into circuitry and facilitate adult neuroplasticity. We also find naked mole-rat neuronal maturation sits at the intersection of rodents and long-lived, non-rodent species: while neurons can mature by 3 weeks (rodent-like), most neurons mature at 5 months and hippocampal neurogenic levels are low (like long-lived species). These data establish a timeline for future investigations of longevity- and socially-related manipulations of naked mole-rat adult neurogenesis.

Automated summary

Naked mole-rats are a long-lived rodent species that exhibit extended neuronal maturation. This study characterizes cell proliferation and neuronal maturation in naked mole-rats and establishes a timeline for future investigations on the effects of longevity and social factors on adult neurogenesis in this species. It also highlights the similarities and differences between naked mole-rats and other rodent and long-lived species.