Sea urchins are a minor class of marine invertebrates that share genetic similarities with humans. For example, the sea urchin species Strongylocentrotus purpuratus is estimated to have 23,300 genes in which the majority of vertebrate gene families are enveloped. Some of the sea urchin species can demonstrate extreme longevity, such as Mesocentrotus franciscanus, living for well over 100 years. Comparing human to sea urchin aging suggests that the latter do not fit within the classic understanding of biological aging, as both long- and short-lived sea urchin species demonstrate negligible senescence. Sea urchins are highly regenerative organisms. Adults can regenerate external appendages and can maintain their regenerative abilities throughout life. They grow indeterminately and reproduce throughout their entire adult life. Both long- and short-lived species do not exhibit age-associated telomere shortening and display telomerase activity in somatic tissues regardless of age. Aging S. purpuratus urchins show changes in expression patterns of protein coding genes that are involved in several fundamental cellular functions such as the ubiquitin-proteasome system, signaling pathways, translational regulation, and electron transport chain. Sea urchin longevity and senescence research is a new and promising field that holds promise for the understanding of aging in vertebrates and can increase our understanding of human longevity and of healthy aging.

中文翻译：

---

海胆的衰老和长寿

海胆是一小类海洋无脊椎动物，与人类具有遗传相似性。例如，海胆物种Strongylocentrotus purpuratus 估计有23,300 个基因，其中大部分脊椎动物基因家族都被包裹。一些海胆物种可以表现出极长的寿命，例如 Mesocentrotus franciscanus，寿命超过 100 年。将人类衰老与海胆衰老进行比较表明，后者不符合生物衰老的经典理解，因为长寿和短命的海胆物种都表现出可以忽略不计的衰老。海胆是高度再生的生物。成年人可以再生外部附件，并可以终生保持其再生能力。它们在整个成年生活中无限生长并繁殖。无论年龄大小，长寿和短命物种都不会表现出与年龄相关的端粒缩短，并且在体细胞组织中表现出端粒酶活性。老化的紫癜海胆显示出蛋白质编码基因的表达模式发生变化，这些基因涉及多种基本细胞功能，例如泛素-蛋白酶体系统、信号通路、翻译调节和电子传递链。海胆长寿和衰老研究是一个新的、有前途的领域，它有望帮助我们了解脊椎动物的衰老，并可以增加我们对人类长寿和健康衰老的理解。紫癜海胆显示蛋白质编码基因的表达模式发生变化，这些基因涉及多种基本细胞功能，例如泛素-蛋白酶体系统、信号通路、翻译调节和电子传递链。海胆长寿和衰老研究是一个新的、有前途的领域，它有望帮助我们了解脊椎动物的衰老，并可以增加我们对人类长寿和健康衰老的理解。紫癜海胆显示蛋白质编码基因的表达模式发生变化，这些基因涉及多种基本细胞功能，例如泛素-蛋白酶体系统、信号通路、翻译调节和电子传递链。海胆长寿和衰老研究是一个新的、有前途的领域，它有望帮助我们了解脊椎动物的衰老，并可以增加我们对人类长寿和健康衰老的理解。