Time runs out for world's oldest mouse

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- GHR-KO "Dwarf" Mouse 11C, who surpassed all known records for mouse longevity, died Wednesday, Jan. 8, at his home in the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Vivarium. He was 4 years, 11 months and 3 weeks old.

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"In terms of an animal that normally lives two to two-and-a-half, occasionally three years, this guy was way out there," said Andrzej Bartke, an SIUC physiologist who has known the family for generations.

"It would be like a human living to be 180 to 200 years old. This mouse was just amazing."

Mouse, whose initials stood for "Growth Hormone Receptor-Knock Out," came from a line of research mice that produce growth hormone but do not respond to it. Members of Mouse's family emigrated from their native Ohio University in the mid-'90s to assist Bartke with his research on growth hormone's effects. Mouse's relatives played a significant role in an SIUC study on the impact of growth hormone resistance on male reproductive function, among other research projects.

Mouse himself was born at the SIUC Vivarium Jan. 15, 1998, and was originally drafted to serve in an insulin sensitivity study.

"We think one of the reasons these (growth hormone-resistant) mice live so long is because they have low levels of insulin and glucose," Bartke said.

But somehow, his number never came up before the study ended.

"He was already middle-aged, so we thought, 'Why don't we use him as part of our longevity study and see how long he lives,'" Bartke recalled.

"Our previous champion was 4 years, 3 months. It may not sound like much of a difference, but when their lives are so short, those additional months put him way up there."

Though he was a handsome, cream-colored fellow with pink eyes, Mouse never married. He lived alone, devoting himself to his work. In his later months, he'd shrunk some, weighing 8 grams -- about as much as eight paper clips -- at the time of his death.

"He was tiny -- very, very small, even for a dwarf mouse," Bartke said.

Bartke was full of praise for the care Mouse received in his declining months.

"It's harder for the staff to care for animals in the longevity study -- they become frail and delicate as the elderly often do," Bartke said. "Achieving a world record in mouse longevity speaks for itself. These animals are in good condition."

There will be no services. Mouse has donated his body to science. His remains have been sent to the University of Texas in San Antonio and will be studied by researchers there. Memorials may be made to the SIUC Department of Physiology or the SIU School of Medicine to further research into aging.

CAPTION: The measure of the mouse -- While the late GHR-KO "Dwarf" Mouse never sought the spotlight for himself and so leaves no pictures behind, the mouse pictured at right is a distant relative who bears a remarkable resemblance to the world's oldest mouse, a lifelong resident of Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Vivarium. The mouse on the left is of normal size.

Photo supplied courtesy of Michael Bonkowski, geriatrics researcher at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.