Age-associated reduction of nuclear shape dynamics in excitatory neurons of the visual cortex

Neurons decline in their functionality over time, and age-related neuronal alterations are associated with phenotypes of neurodegenerative diseases. In non-neural tissues, an infolded nuclear shape has been proposed as a hallmark of aged cells and neurons with infolded nuclei have also been reported to be associated with neuronal activity. Here, we perform time-lapse imaging in the visual cortex of Nex-Cre;SUN1-GFP mice. Nuclear infolding was observed within 15 minutes of stimulation in young nuclei, while the aged nuclei were already infolded pre-stimulation and showed reduced dynamics of the morphology. In young nuclei, the depletion of the stimuli restored the nucleus to a spherical shape and reduced the dynamic behavior, suggesting that nuclear infolding is a reversible process. We also found the aged nucleus to be stiffer than the young one, further relating to the age-associated loss of nuclear shape dynamics. We reveal temporal changes in the nuclear shape upon external stimulation and observe that these morphological dynamics decrease with age.