Mechanisms of reproductive aging in the females

Abstract

Aging is a developmental process occurring in all living organisms after reaching a critical developmental stage, characterized by progressive loss of functions until death. Different cells/tissues age differently depending on epigenetics and cell-cell interactions. While males maintain fertility for the most part of their life females only maintain reproductive ability for a short time compared with their lifespan. The interesting question is why and how the females lose fertility so quickly. There have been many hypotheses proposed from different perspectives and recent research has revealed unusual interactions between germ cells and somatic cells which may determine the lifespan of reproduction in the females. This review briefly discusses recent progress in reproductive aging in the well studied model, C. elegans, and focuses on the molecular mechanisms which may be conserved across all animals including humans. © 2012 The Author(s).