Postmortem gene expression

Genes are able to work after the death of an organism

Polit.<url> based on the materials of Science: ‘Undead’ genes come alive days after life ends

Microbiologist Peter Noble from Washington State University and his colleagues have found that genes are able to turn on after the death of the body. The discovery of the postmortem activity of genes may be important for the creation of new methods for the preservation of donor organs.

Previously, scientists periodically observed the postmortem activity of individual genes in human blood and liver. Peter Noble and his colleagues conducted a systematic study of the work of more than a thousand genes in dead laboratory mice and danio rerio fish. They tracked sequential changes in gene activity for four days after death in fish and two days in mice. When starting the study, scientists assumed that genes would stop working soon after death, like the mechanisms of a car that ran out of gasoline. But they found that hundreds of genes, on the contrary, increased activity. And although most of these genes remained active no more than a day after death, in fish some genes worked for up to four days.

Many of these posthumously working genes are associated with activation of the immune system and inflammatory processes – the body's response to stress. Scientists were very surprised that among such genes there were also those that are responsible for the formation of the embryo, but do not act in the adult life of the organism. One possible explanation for their awakening is that the cellular conditions in the corpse resemble those of an embryo. The researchers also found activation of some genes that promote tumor growth. This observation explains why people who have had donor organs transplanted from recently deceased have a higher risk of cancer.

Scientists say that their results are important for progress in the field of transplantology, because the gene activity in the transplanted organs affects the success of the operation. The method of measuring such activity, created by Noble and his team, can be used as a diagnostic tool to predict the success of transplantation. Forensic scientist David Carter from Chaminade University in Honolulu notes that they also provide a new way to establish the time of death of an organism.

The results of the work were published on the bioRxiv preprint server, and now, according to Peter Noble, their article is being reviewed in a scientific journal.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  23.06.2016