https://www.mdlinx.com/endocrinology/medical-news-article/2015/11/24/6428485?
Institute for Basic Science News, 11/23/2015
As
humans have begun to live longer it has become clear that the quality
of our lives is equally as important as the duration. In the lab, a
dramatic extension of lifespan isn’t difficult to achieve. In previous
experiments using several types of mutated Caenorhabditis elegans
roundworms (C. elegans), researchers were able to significantly extend
the worm’s lifespan. The lengthened life that the worms experienced was
not necessarily a good one, as many of the mutated varieties were less
healthy than wild–type worms, especially during the segment of life that
was extended beyond normal. Instead of focusing on drawing out the
length of life, South Korea’s IBS Center for Plant Aging Research and
the research group led by Coleen Murphy, a professor at Princeton
University have created a tool that can be used for accurately
predicting lifespan as well as assessing the current health state, and
discovered the regulatory mechanism that extends “healthspan”, the time
in which an organism is at its optimal health. The researchers concluded
that maximum velocity (MV) of wild–type worms at day 9 of adulthood is a
reliable predictor of longevity. Another factor they observed was the
state of C. elegans mitochondria. Elderly humans have weaker muscles and
less strength resulted from mitochondrial defects which occur later in
life. C. elegans with lower MV exhibit similar defects by midlife but
there are far fewer defects in worms with higher MV at the same age.
These observations indicate that MV correlates with mitochondrial health
expression, suggesting that MV can be a reliable indicator of the
actual physical state. The findings show that MV of C. elegans is a
reliable indicator of age–related physical decline, accurately reports
movement ability and if measured in mid–adulthood, is predictive of
future longevity. According to Hong Gil Nam, “our analysis takes into
account the length of time an individual can expect to live, and how
healthy that individual can expect to be with age.” Many parts of the
insulin/IGF–1 signaling (IIS) pathway that enable these functions have
been identified, and many of these genes and the underlying mechanisms
are conserved in mammals, which mean that the extended abilities that
insulin/IGF–1 signaling (IIS) exhibits could offer therapeutic target
possibilities for humans in the future. The IBS Center isn’t just
looking at push the limits for long life; instead they are unraveling
the mechanisms in our cells to maximize our health as we age.
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