Bats (order Chiroptera) are emerging as instructive animal models for aging studies. Unlike some common laboratory species, they meet a central criterion for aging studies: they live for a long time in the wild or in captivity, for 20, 30, and even >40 years. Healthy aging (i.e., healthspan) in bats has drawn attention to their potential to improve the lives of aging humans due to bat imperviousness to viral infections, apparent low rate of tumorigenesis, and unique ability to repair DNA. At the same time, bat longevity also permits the accumulation of age-associated systemic pathologies that can be examined in detail and manipulated, especially in captive animals. Research has uncovered additional and critical advantages of bats. In multiple ways, bats are better analogs to humans than are rodents. In this review, we highlight eight diverse areas of bat research with relevance to aging: genome sequencing, telomeres, and DNA repair; immunity and inflammation; hearing; menstruation and menopause; skeletal system and fragility; neurobiology and neurodegeneration; stem cells; and senescence and mortality. These examples demonstrate the broad relevance of the bat as an animal model and point to directions that are particularly important for human aging studies.

中文翻译：

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蝙蝠作为研究长寿和衰老的指导性动物模型


蝙蝠（Chiroptera 目）正在成为衰老研究的指导性动物模型。与一些常见的实验室物种不同，它们符合衰老研究的中心标准：它们在野外或圈养中生活很长时间，长达 20 年、30 年甚至 >40 年。由于蝙蝠不受病毒感染、明显的低肿瘤发生率和独特的 DNA 修复能力，蝙蝠的健康衰老（即健康寿命）引起了人们对它们改善老年人生活的潜力的关注。同时，蝙蝠的长寿还允许与年龄相关的全身病症的积累，这些病症可以进行详细检查和操纵，尤其是在圈养动物中。研究发现了蝙蝠的其他关键优势。在许多方面，蝙蝠比啮齿动物更能类似于人类。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍了与衰老相关的蝙蝠研究的八个不同领域：基因组测序、端粒和 DNA 修复;免疫和炎症;听到;月经和更年期;骨骼系统和脆弱性;神经生物学和神经退行性变;干细胞;以及衰老和死亡率。这些例子证明了蝙蝠作为动物模型的广泛相关性，并指出了对人类衰老研究特别重要的方向。