Class
Article
College
College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences
Department
Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences Department
Faculty Mentor
Mirella Meyer-Ficca
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
It has become a common trend for people to start their families at a later age, often due to lifestyle choices like achieving career goals first and waiting to achieve financial stability. Along with this trend of increasing parental age comes another, the decrease in fertility. While it is well established that female fertility declines significantly with age, current research is showing that male fertility may be impacted just as much. NAD (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) is an important biochemical cofactor in most metabolic reactions, and importantly, is it also essential for DNA repair. As age increases in humans, the amount of NAD in the body decreases. In this study we are testing the hypothesis that lower NAD levels affect the body’s ability to repair DNA strand breaks, potentially contributing to the lower overall health and lower germ cell quality in aged humans. We expect NAD decline to lead to a decreased ability to maintain DNA integrity in somatic cells and in germ cells. Decreased DNA integrity in germ cells would cause a decrease in fertility. To test this hypothesis, we are quantifying DNA strand breaks in various cell types, including white blood cells and germ cells, reflecting on overall health and germ cell health, respectively. We are using comet assays to quantify DNA breaks in cells obtained from transgenic mice with varying NAD levels that are induced by their diet. The comet assay is an electrophoresis method that allows quantification of DNA strand breaks in individual cells. This research is relevant to human nutrition, reproduction and aging, and it may guide the development of pharmaceutical or nutritional interventions intended to help increase NAD levels in aging humans and to maintain their fertility. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 10-11 a.m.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-11-2021 12:00 AM
Included in
Roles of NAD in DNA Repair and Response to Oxidative Stress
Logan, UT
It has become a common trend for people to start their families at a later age, often due to lifestyle choices like achieving career goals first and waiting to achieve financial stability. Along with this trend of increasing parental age comes another, the decrease in fertility. While it is well established that female fertility declines significantly with age, current research is showing that male fertility may be impacted just as much. NAD (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) is an important biochemical cofactor in most metabolic reactions, and importantly, is it also essential for DNA repair. As age increases in humans, the amount of NAD in the body decreases. In this study we are testing the hypothesis that lower NAD levels affect the body’s ability to repair DNA strand breaks, potentially contributing to the lower overall health and lower germ cell quality in aged humans. We expect NAD decline to lead to a decreased ability to maintain DNA integrity in somatic cells and in germ cells. Decreased DNA integrity in germ cells would cause a decrease in fertility. To test this hypothesis, we are quantifying DNA strand breaks in various cell types, including white blood cells and germ cells, reflecting on overall health and germ cell health, respectively. We are using comet assays to quantify DNA breaks in cells obtained from transgenic mice with varying NAD levels that are induced by their diet. The comet assay is an electrophoresis method that allows quantification of DNA strand breaks in individual cells. This research is relevant to human nutrition, reproduction and aging, and it may guide the development of pharmaceutical or nutritional interventions intended to help increase NAD levels in aging humans and to maintain their fertility. Presentation Time: Wednesday, 10-11 a.m.