Scientists from St Petersburg University prove the connection between short-term stress and DNA damage in bone marrow
Biologists from St Petersburg University, as part of an international research team, have demonstrated in mice that short-term stress is linked to DNA damage, which can ultimately lead to mutations.
Today, stress is considered one of the factors that can lead to various negative changes in the human body. Scientists at St Petersburg University have been studying the influence of physiology, particularly stress, on the occurrence of mutations since the late 1950s. In the initial stages, scientists, led by professor Mikhail Lobashev, studied this aspect in flies and yeast. However, current experiments are being conducted on mice.
The research findings are published in Scientific Reports.
Previously, it was believed that short-term stresses (lasting up to two hours) do not affect human DNA, since rapid adaptation does not lead to serious negative consequences. However, such short-term stresses are common in a person’s life. DNA damage is an irreversible event in the life of cells. After multiple DNA damages, and especially chromosomal rearrangements, the cell can, at best, block its ability to divide or die from apoptosis (programmed cell death). At worst, it can start dividing uncontrollably, ceasing to perform its main functions, leading to cancer or clonal haematopoiesis. In clonal haematopoiesis, stem cells begin to produce blood cells with the same genetic mutation. This often occurs during ageing with stem cells in the bone marrow, the central organ of immunity.
The study was based on the olfactory stress model, in which mice are exposed to chemosignals released under stress and picked up by olfactory receptors in low concentrations. This model was developed by Eugene Daev, Professor in the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology at St Petersburg University.
In the study, we used a pheromone associated with overpopulation stress in female mice, called 2,5-Dimethylpyrazine. We found that in addition to the physiological stress response and behavioural avoidance, this effect led to destabilisation of the mouse genome within two hours after the start of odour exposure. Importantly, the stress was completely non-invasive, and the effect disappeared if the olfactory receptors were blocked in mice.
Timofey Glinin, Employee in the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology at St Petersburg University
The scientists demonstrated for the first time that two hours of stress can lead to DNA damage in the bone marrow. Additionally, the researchers were the first to show that these damages can be caused even by odorous stress signals. The study also identified mechanisms linking the activation of brain regions, the release of stress hormones, and the destabilisation of the genome. This opens up opportunities for developing new therapies that block the stress component of pathological processes.