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Just the other day I discussed the concept of longevity escape velocity, casting my doubts that we will reach that point, but also stating that scientists are now addressing the biological reason(s) why we get older and eventually die.
In a paper published on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (in US) a team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego, present their studies on the ageing of yeast cells (yes, also yeast ages). They have been using engineering, computer science and biology to analyse what happens inside a yeast cell.
It has been known for a while that any cell has to have its DNA unwrapped to code for the proteins and once it is done the DNA gets wrapped again. The unwrapping and the wrapping is regulated by a process known as “chromatin silencing”. They discovered that this process is activated by a family of proteins called “sirtuins” and that silencing (wrapping) protects the DNA from damages. Sirtuins have started to be experimented for relieving ageing effects (they are marketed as anti-ageing substances in drugs like resveratrol and NMN).
What the team at UCSD discovered, through computer modelling is that silencing indeed protects the DNA from damages (that eventually show up as “ageing”) but at the same time blocks the production of protein and that is also leading to ageing. Cells have found a balance, a compromise, between risking the DNA damaged and risking lack of needed proteins. This balance results in a periodical switch on – switch off (see clip) of the chromatin silencer and have noticed that as the cell ages this periodical switch fails. Using yeast cells they have shown that by regulating the periodical switch on and off the cells can live longer.
The protein that regulates the switch, the “sirtuin”, is present in the cells of all known living cells, including ours. However it is too soon to imply that by regulating it in humans we will remain younger for a longer time. Nevertheless it is interesting to see that scientists are now exploring the ageing at molecular level and are finding hints on changing the ageing process. In the long term this might lead to augmenting humans life span.
