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Updated: Jul 28, 2025

Author Spotlight: Hypothalamic Neural Mechanism Insights
Published on: August 4, 2023
Ageing restructures the transcriptome of the hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus and alters the response to dehydration
Ghadir Elsamad1, André Souza Mecawi2, Audrys G Pauža1,3
1Molecular Neuroendocrinology Research Group, Bristol Medical School: Translational Health Sciences, Dorothy Hodgkin Building, University of Bristol, Bristol, England.
Abstract:
Ageing is associated with altered neuroendocrine function. In the context of the hypothalamic supraoptic nucleus, which makes the antidiuretic hormone vasopressin, ageing alters acute responses to hyperosmotic cues, rendering the elderly more susceptible to dehydration. Chronically, vasopressin has been associated with numerous diseases of old age, including type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Bulk RNAseq transcriptome analysis has been used to catalogue the polyadenylated supraoptic nucleus transcriptomes of adult (3 months) and aged (18 months) rats in basal euhydrated and stimulated dehydrated conditions. Gene ontology and Weighted Correlation Network Analysis revealed that ageing is associated with alterations in the expression of extracellular matrix genes. Interestingly, whilst the transcriptomic response to dehydration is overall blunted in aged animals compared to adults, there is a specific enrichment of differentially expressed genes related to neurodegenerative processes in the aged cohort, suggesting that dehydration itself may provoke degenerative consequences in aged rats.
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