Age‐associated reduction of nuclear shape dynamics in excitatory neurons of the visual cortex

Abstract

AbstractNeurons decline in their functionality over time, and age‐related neuronal alterations are associated with phenotypes of neurodegenerative diseases. In nonneural tissues, an infolded nuclear shape has been proposed as a hallmark of aged cells and neurons with infolded nuclei have also been reported to be associated with neuronal activity. Here, we performed time‐lapse imaging in the visual cortex of Nex‐Cre;SUN1‐GFP mice. Nuclear infolding was observed within 10 min of stimulation in young nuclei, while the aged nuclei were already infolded pre‐stimulation and showed reduced dynamics of the morphology. In young nuclei, the depletion of the stimuli restored the nucleus to a spherical shape and reduced the dynamic behavior, suggesting that nuclear infolding is a reversible process. We also found the aged nucleus to be stiffer than the young one, further relating to the age‐associated loss of nuclear shape dynamics. We reveal temporal changes in the nuclear shape upon external stimulation and observe that these morphological dynamics decrease with age.