Study shows how autophagy dietary restriction impacts in the intestine to increase the life -
Food restriction or restricted food intake without malnutrition has beneficial effects on the longevity of many species, including humans. A new study from the Institute for Medical Discovery Sanford Burnham Prebys (SBP), published today in the journal PLoS Genetics, represents a major advance in the understanding of how dietary restriction leads to these benefits.
"In this study, we used the small roundworm C. elegans as a model to show that autophagy in the intestine is essential for extending the life span," said Malene Hansen, Ph.D., associate professor in the development, the aging of the SBP and the regeneration program and lead author of the study. "We found that intestinal worms restricted food has a higher than normal rate of autophagy, which seems to improve fitness in many ways maintaining intestinal integrity and maintaining the animal's ability to move. "
autophagy, or cell cycling, is known to play a role in extending lifespan. Autophagy involves breaking down its parts-cell decision protein, electricity production and transport systems-small molecule. This time eliminates unnecessary or broken cell machinery and provides building blocks to manufacture new components of the cell, which is especially important when the raw materials are not provided by food.
In this study, the research team wanted to understand how dietary restriction autophagy impacts in the intestine, whose proper function is already known to be important for long life.
"to the strain we used, called eat-2 is genetically predisposed to eat less, and they live longer than normal worms, so they provide an ideal model for studying how the supply restriction extends life span, "said Sara Gelino, Ph.D., research associate in the laboratory of Hansen and lead author of the study." We found that blocking autophagy in their intestines considerably shortened their lifespan, demonstrating that autophagy in this body is the key to longevity.
"These results have led us to consider how to inhibit the effects of autophagy function of the intestine . We found that the barriers of the intestine of normal to become leaky as they age, those eating-2 to remain intact. Prevent autophagy eliminated this benefit, which indicates that a non-leaky gut is an important factor for long life. "
" How gut integrity concerns longevity are not clearly understood, "Hansen commented." It is possible that the decline of the gut barrier function associated with normal aging may leave harmful substances or pathogens into the body. "
The research team also found that the deactivation of autophagy in the intestine makes the slow-eating worms long-term move around less.
" decreased physical activity indicates that autophagy in an organ can have a major impact on other organs, in this case probably muscle or neural engine, "said Hansen." Finding the link between mobility and autophagy in the intestine will require further research, but we speculate that inhibition of autophagy in the gut can affect the ability of the intestine to absorb nutrients and secrete hormones important for the function of other organs. "
Although these results suggest that increased autophagy in the intestine is generally beneficial, Hansen warns that further research is needed:" Before we can consider regulating autophagy to manage the disease, we need to learn much more about how the process works in both a single cell and the whole organism. "
many of these future studies will also use C. elegans. "Even though the worms are much simpler than humans, many of the same basic mechanisms driving their biology. The knowledge we gain from this fast research could eventually help develop new treatments that help people live longer, healthier, "added Hansen.
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