To assess the dependence on age of the expression of apoptosis regulatory proteins in the human semitendinosus muscle, we measured the expression levels of several apoptosis-related genes, including apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-3 and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), using RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and TUNEL assays. We found that the DNA fragmentation was proportional to the age of the tissues sample donors. The expression levels of AIF were significantly elevated (by 10 to 25%) in semitendinosus tissue samples from older individuals, but the Bax, Bcl-2, caspase-3 and HSP 70 levels remained almost constant. This data suggests that the morphological and functional changes observed in aged human semitendinosus muscle correlates with the apoptosis of muscle cells through the induction of AIF.
Interdependence among non-metric traits as well as their correlation with sex, age, and body size usually cause methodological problems in phenetic investigations. Based on data on four mammalian species (Microtus oeconomus, M. limnophilus, Lepus europaeus, Capreolus capreolus) studied by the author, and on data from the literature these problems were analyzed. Both the number and the coefficients of intercor- relations among traits were found to depend on sample sizes of individuals examined. They were larger in populations with progressive and faster body growth. The number of traits related to sex increased significantly with sex dimorphism across mammalian species. Age dependence of traits did not show a regular pattern within and among species. These results are discussed as to their implications for estimating morphological differentiation within and among populations.
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