Featured Article: Accelerated decline of physical strength in peroxiredoxin-3 knockout mice

As a member of peroxiredoxin family, peroxiredoxin-3 plays a major role in the control of mitochondrial level of reactive oxygen species. During the breeding of experimental mice, we noticed that the peroxiredoxin-3 knockout mice were listless with aging. In the present study, we compared the swimming exercise performance and oxidative status between peroxiredoxin-3 knockout mice (n = 15) and wild-type littermates (n = 15). At the age of 10 months, the physical strength of peroxiredoxin-3 knockout mice was much lower than the wild-type littermates. Increased oxidative damage and decreased mitochondrial DNA copy number of the animal skeletal muscles were observed in peroxiredoxin-3 knockout mice as compared to that in the wild-type littermates. In addition, we found increased apoptotic cells in the brains of peroxiredoxin-3 knockout mice. Our results suggest that the deficiency of peroxiredoxin-3 induces accelerated oxidative stress and mitochondrial impairment, resulting in the decrease of energy supply and cellular activities. Peroxiredoxin-3 might be involved in the inhibition of aging process.