Aging is impacted by interventions across species, often converging on metabolic pathways. Transcription factors regulate longevity yet approaches for their pharmacological modulation to exert geroprotection remain sparse. We show that increased expression of the transcription factor Grainyhead 1 (GRH-1) promotes lifespan and pathogen resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans.
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFExcessive insulin signaling through the insulin receptor (IR) may play a role in the pathogenesis of diet-induced metabolic disease, including obesity and type 2 diabetes. Here we investigate whether heterozygous impairment of insulin receptor (IR) expression limited to peripheral, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhether and how regulation of genes and pathways contributes to physiological aging is topic of intense scientific debate. By performing an RNA expression-based screen for genes downregulated during aging of three different species, we identified glycine-C-acetyltransferase (GCAT, EC 2.3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImpaired insulin/IGF1 signalling has been shown to extend lifespan in model organisms ranging from yeast to mammals. Here we sought to determine the effect of targeted disruption of the insulin receptor (IR) in non-neuronal tissues of adult mice on the lifespan. We induced hemizygous (PerIRKO ) or homozygous (PerIRKO ) disruption of the IR in peripheral tissue of 15-weeks-old mice using a tamoxifen-inducible Cre transgenic mouse with only peripheral tissue expression, and subsequently monitored glucose metabolism, insulin signalling and spontaneous death rates over 4 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFD-Glucosamine (GlcN) is a freely available and commonly used dietary supplement potentially promoting cartilage health in humans, which also acts as an inhibitor of glycolysis. Here we show that GlcN, independent of the hexosamine pathway, extends Caenorhabditis elegans life span by impairing glucose metabolism that activates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK/AAK-2) and increases mitochondrial biogenesis. Consistent with the concept of mitohormesis, GlcN promotes increased formation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) culminating in increased expression of the nematodal amino acid-transporter 1 (aat-1) gene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAging (Albany NY)
November 2010
Cardiac failure is the most prevalent cause of death at higher age, and is commonly associated with impaired energy homeostasis in the heart. Mitochondrial metabolism appears critical to sustain cardiac function to counteract aging. In this study, we generated mice transgenically over-expressing the mitochondrial protein frataxin, which promotes mitochondrial energy conversion by controlling iron-sulfur-cluster biogenesis and hereby mitochondrial electron flux.
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