Scientists take important step toward the proverbial fountain of youth
- From: as <assidd73@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:42:30 -0800 (PST)
http://www.physorg. com/news18071180 5.html
Scientists take important step toward the proverbial fountain of youth
December 22, 2009 Going back for a second dessert after your holiday
meal might not be the best strategy for living a long, cancer-free
life say researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
That's because they've shown exactly how restricted calorie diets --
specifically in the form of restricted glucose -- help human cells
live longer. This discovery, published online in The FASEB Journal
could help lead to drugs and treatments that slow human aging and
prevent cancer.
"Our hope is that the discovery that reduced calories extends the
lifespan of normal human cells will lead to further discoveries of the
causes for these effects in different cell types and facilitate the
development of novel approaches to extend the lifespan of humans,"
said Trygve Tollefsbol, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from
the Center for Aging and Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University
of Alabama at Birmingham. "We would also hope for these studies to
lead to improved prevention of cancer as well as many other age-
related diseases through controlling calorie intake of specific cell
types."
To make this discovery, Tollefsbol and colleagues used normal human
lung cells and precancerous human lung cells that were at the
beginning stages of cancer formation. Both sets of cells were grown in
the laboratory and received either normal or reduced levels of glucose
(sugar). As the cells grew over a period of a few weeks, the
researchers monitored their ability to divide, and kept track of how
many cells survived over this period. They found that the normal cells
lived longer, and many of the precancerous cells died, when given less
glucose. Gene activity was also measured under these same conditions.
The reduced glucose caused normal cells to have a higher activity of
the gene that dictates the level of telomerase, an enzyme that extends
their lifespan and lower activity of a gene (p16) that slows their
growth. Epigenetic effects (effects not due to gene mutations) were
found to be a major cause in changing the activity of these genes as
they reacted to decreased glucose levels.
"Western science is on the cusp of developing a pharmaceutical
fountain of youth" said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The
FASEB Journal. "This study confirms that we are on the path to
persuading human cells to let us to live longer, and perhaps cancer-
free, lives."
More information: Yuanyuan Li, Liang Liu, and Trygve O. Tollefsbol.
Glucose restriction can extend normal cell lifespan and impair
precancerous cell growth through epigenetic control of hTERT and p16
expression. FASEB J. doi:10.1096/ fj.09-149328
Provided by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
(news : web)
.
- Prev by Date: We now know that the brain controls the formation of bone
- Next by Date: Scientists create world's first molecular transistor
- Previous by thread: We now know that the brain controls the formation of bone
- Next by thread: Scientists create world's first molecular transistor
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
