Description
Due to the exceptional characteristics of naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber), such as survival in hypoxic habitats or resistance to cancer and other diseases that occur with increased age, and resistance to some types of chemical pain, these eusocial animals are an excellent model of evolutionary adaptation. Astrocytes, play a major role in the immune response and modulating neuronal activity. Yet, very little is known about how astrocytes may contribute to some of the unique neurobiology observed in naked mole-rats. Here we perform a comparative study investigating the morphology and distribution of astrocytes in naked mole-rat brains compared to the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus). Preliminary analysis suggests that naked mole-rat astrocytes (labelled by glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)) show longer branch length but fewer branches. That means, the astrocytes in naked mole-rats appear to be larger and less complex than in mice. We also found that the density of astrocytes along the cortical layers seems to be higher in mice than in naked mole-rats. However, the ratio between astrocytes and neurons is similar, which could be due to fewer cells in general in naked mole-rats.
In summary, our results show differences in the morphology and distribution of astrocytes in naked mole-rats compared to those in mice, which could be an evolutionary adaptation of naked mole-rats to the extreme living conditions.
