Regeneration and Immortality: Aging of the Jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii
Valentina Velasco1, Mateo Uribe-Gaviria1, Santiago Andrés Suárez-Gómez1, Antonio Villamizar-Romero1, Isabel Cristina Vasquez-Vélez 2
1The Pontifical Xavierian University, 2Physiological sciences, The Pontifical Xavierian University
Objective:
  • Make a description about the regenerative characteristics of the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii

  • Investigate how the regenerative processes of the jellyfish allow it to rejuvenate, and if these tissue restoration processes are also found in humans.

Background:
  • The jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii (T. Nutricala) is a cnidarian of the Oceaniidae family that lives in the Mediterranean Sea. It is known as the immortal jellyfish, since through a process of cell development of transdifferentiation it manages to return to a polyp state. The role of regeneration processes and their role in aging have been studied in recent years for their possible applications in humans.

Design/Methods:
  • Carry out a narrative review using MeSH terms “Jellyfish”, “Turritopsis dohrnii”, “Aging” in databases such as PubMed, ElSevier, GoogleScholar. Using inclusion criteria "Aging process" and exclusion that correspond.

Results:
  • The jellyfish rejuvenation process consists of different stages and mechanisms depending on the state they are in, in addition to having specific differentiation pathways in each one.

  • DNA synthesis, repair processes, telomerase activity and telomere maintenance are found in the literature to be overexpressed to a greater extent in the search stage, compared to the medusa and polyp stages.

  • Transdifferentiation could help understand processes involved in humans in pathologies such as cancer.

Conclusions:
  • The regeneration of these jellyfish is mainly by transdifferentiation.

  • This mechanism is related to its ability to rejuvenate, however in humans it is evident in pathologies such as cancer.

  • Current evidence on the effects of regeneration as a result of one of the mechanisms used by jellyfish is scarce, with a large field of research.

10.1212/WNL.0000000000203841