Optimization of energy production and central carbon metabolism in a non-respiring eukaryote.

Most eukaryotes respire oxygen, using it to generate biomass and energy. However, a few organisms have lost the capacity to respire. Understanding how they manage biomass and energy production may illuminate the critical points at which respiration feeds into central carbon metabolism and explain possible routes to its optimization.

Mnemons and the memorization of past signaling events.

Current advances are raising our awareness of the diverse roles that protein condensation plays in the biology of cells. Particularly, findings in organisms as diverse as yeast and Drosophila suggest that cells may utilize protein condensation to establish long-lasting changes in cellular activities and thereby encode a memory of past signaling events. Proteins that oligomerize to confer such cellular memory have been termed 'mnemons'.

Klotho, APOEε4, cognitive ability, brain size, atrophy, and survival: a study in the Aberdeen Birth Cohort of 1936.

A single copy of klotho allele KL-VS is associated with longevity, better health, increased cognition, and bigger regional brain volume. However, its longitudinal effects on cognition and brain volumes, both global and regional, in late life are unclear. In this study we show that, relative to noncarriers, KL-VS heterozygotes had (1) shorter survival; (2) smaller white matter volumes; (3) slower cognitive decline; and (4) greater right frontal lobe volumes.