GENE KEY TO SLOW AGEING PROCESS IDENTIFIED
In a major
breakthrough, researchers have identified a gene that can slow the ageing
process throughout the entire body when activated in key organ systems.
Working with fruit flies, the
scientists activated a gene called AMPK that is a energy sensor in cells; it
gets activated when cellular energy levels are low.
"Humans have AMPK, but it is
usually not activated," said senior study author David Walker, an
associate professor from the UCLA University of California, Los Angeles in the
US.
"The research could have
important implications for delaying ageing and decreasing diseases in
humans," Walker added.
Increasing the amount of AMPK in
fruit flies' intestines increased their lifespans by about 30 percent - to
roughly eight weeks from the typical six - and the flies stayed healthier for a
longer duration as well.
"We have
shown that when we activate the gene in the intestine or the nervous system, we
see the ageing process is slowed beyond the organ system in which the gene is
activated," Walker said.
Extending the healthy life of
humans would presumably require protecting many of the body's organ systems
from the ravages of ageing - but delivering anti-ageing treatments to the brain
or other key organs could prove technically difficult.
Activating AMPK in a more
accessible organ such as the intestine could ultimately slow the ageing process
throughout the entire body, including the brain, the study suggested.
For the study, the researchers
studied the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaste and focused on a cellular process
such as Autophagy, which enables cells to discard old, damaged cellular
components.
The
researchers found that activating AMPK in the flies led to autophagy occurring
at a greater rate than usual.
The study appeared in the journal
Cell Reports.
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