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@ARTICLE{Bergmann:285268,
author = {Bergmann, Carina and Häsler, Lisa M and Lambert, Marius
and Kaeser, Stephan A and Schultz, Stephanie A and Riond,
Barbara and Weiss, Marco and Balz, Martina and
Knauf-Witzens, Tobias and Jucker, Mathias},
title = {{N}eurofilament light chain may serve as a cross-species
blood biomarker to assess aging and predict mortality.},
journal = {PLoS biology},
volume = {24},
number = {2},
issn = {1544-9173},
address = {Lawrence, KS},
publisher = {PLoS},
reportid = {DZNE-2026-00210},
pages = {e3003606},
year = {2026},
abstract = {Blood levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL) increase
with age in healthy humans and have been shown to predict
all-cause human mortality. To determine whether this
relationship is conserved across species, we analyzed NfL in
the blood of various animals. We observed age-related
increases in NfL levels comparable to those seen in humans
in mice, cats, dogs and horses. Longitudinal analysis of NfL
trajectories in aged mice demonstrated that a faster rate of
NfL increase predicts mortality. When comparing baseline NfL
levels across 13 species, we found that those with lower
baseline NfL levels tended to have longer lifespans;
however, the collinearity between body size and life span
complicates the interpretation of this finding. NfL was also
robustly detected in blood of 39 additional mammalian
species, as well as a few reptiles and birds, consistent
with a conserved amino acid sequence of the NfL fragment in
blood. Given the growing interest in NfL as a biomarker for
neurological health and mortality in humans, our findings
suggest that NfL may serve as a cross-species blood
biomarker for assessing aging interventions and predicting
mortality.},
keywords = {Neurofilament Proteins: blood / Animals / Biomarkers: blood
/ Aging: blood / Humans / Mice / Dogs / Male / Cats / Female
/ Longevity / Species Specificity / Horses / Neurofilament
Proteins (NLM Chemicals) / Biomarkers (NLM Chemicals) /
neurofilament protein L (NLM Chemicals)},
cin = {AG Jucker},
ddc = {610},
cid = {I:(DE-2719)1210001},
pnm = {352 - Disease Mechanisms (POF4-352)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-352},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
pubmed = {pmid:41712539},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pbio.3003606},
url = {https://pub.dzne.de/record/285268},
}