Spiny mouse fibroblasts exhibit a baseline preference for glycolysis and are resilient to oxidative stress across lifespan

Primary ear pinna fibroblasts from spiny mice show a baseline glycolysis preference linked to lower ROS production and remain highly resistant to oxidative stress across lifespan.

• Why it matters: Metabolism shapes cell state during homeostasis and repair, yet it is unclear whether highly regenerative mammals share a stromal metabolic program that supports oxidative-stress resilience.
• What they did: Using cellular assays on primary ear pinna fibroblasts from spiny mice, rabbits, laboratory mice, and rats, the study compared glycolysis, ROS production, and mitochondrial respiration and morphology across fetal, young, and old ages.
• The result: Spiny mouse and rabbit fibroblasts consistently displayed low-respiring, depolarized mitochondria with a large spherical phenotype and strong oxidative-stress resistance at all ages, supporting a shared ROS-resistant metabolic signature in regenerative mammals.

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