07.31.08

Exercise in a Pill?

Posted in Medicine, Biotech, Research at 7:31 pm by heaven

If researchers could reproduce the biochemical basis for the health- and longevity-enhancing results of exercise, the resulting drug would no doubt be as popular as calorie restriction mimetics. Exercise and calorie restriction are the two gold-standard items for health: little else even comes close yet. From EurekAlert!, news of small steps on this path: researchers "identified two signaling pathways that are activated in response to exercise and converge to dramatically increase endurance. ... Previous work with genetically engineered mice [had] revealed that permanently activating a genetic switch known as PPAR delta turned mice into indefatigable marathon runners. In addition to their super-endurance, the altered mice were resistant to weight gain, even when fed a high-fat diet that caused obesity in ordinary mice. On top of their lean and mean physique, their response to insulin improved, lowering levels of circulating glucose. ... We wanted to know whether a drug specific for PPAR delta would have the same beneficial effects."


View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-07/si-eia072808.php
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Short Telomeres and Accelerated Aging

Posted in Medicine, Biotech, Research at 7:16 pm by heaven

All of the rare accelerated aging conditions appear to be caused by one aspect of "normal" aging exaggerated and run wild to cause great biochemical damage. Researchers now think they understand what underlies another of these conditions: "Sufferers of the disease, called dyskeratosis congentia, tend to have problems in tissues in which cells multiply rapidly - skin, hair, nails, tongue, gut and bone marrow - and usually die between the ages of 16 and 50 from bone marrow failure, or the inability to replenish their blood cells. ... Each time a cell divides, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes shorten - and when these caps are gone, so are we. Now, by using an unconventional strategy to shorten telomeres in mice, [researchers] have not only created the first faithful mouse model for studying [dyskeratosis congentia], but they have revealed the molecular defect behind the disease. ... these results suggest that in patients suffering from dyskeratosis congenita, the enzyme telomerase can't elongate telomeres as fast as the nucleases chew them away. ... Clearly, the next step is to understand how telomeres are degraded in human cells. We need to identify the nucleases at work and find out how they are regulated."


View the Article Under Discussion: http://newswire.rockefeller.edu/?page=engine&id=791
Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

IGF-1, FOXO and Telomeres at Ouroboros

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:27 am by heaven

Chris Patil at Ouroboros has dropped two sets of recent research into our laps for consideration, with a focus on continuing efforts to understand the intricacies of human biochemistry as it relates to longevity and aging.

I find most of the work on insulin metabolism and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) somewhat heavy going. It's very much down in the depths of metabolic mechanisms, for all that it's related to straightforward demonstrations of single gene longevity mutations in lower animals. It's somewhat analogous to work on calorie restriction mechanisms - in that it draws together energy from food and longevity to a mysterious biochemical middle - but perhaps more opaque because practical applications aren't as advanced at this stage.

Telomeres are more intuitive, however:

Telomeres - the structures at the end of chromosomes - have a long history in biogerontology. Telomeres shorten with every cell division, essentially providing a 'clock' that ticks down until reaching some critical length, at which point the cell will undergo the permanent growth arrest known as senescence. Even though this clock is an important tumor suppression checkpoint (because it prevents cells that have divided many times from continuing to proliferate), senescent cells themselves contribute both directly and indirectly to aging (by diminishing regenerative capacity and secreting deleterious signaling molecules, respectively). Telomere length is also a useful biomarker: it is positively correlated with life expectancy, and appears to respond to environmental influences including chronic infection and psychological stress.

One item of note in the list is that telomerase appears to have other roles beyond lengthening telomeres:

recent studies have led some investigators to suggest novel biochemical properties of telomerase in several essential cell signaling pathways without apparent involvement of its well established function in telomere maintenance. … This review will provide an update on the extracurricular activities of telomerase in apoptosis, DNA repair, stem cell function, and in the regulation of gene expression.

This is important for those groups working on telomerase-based therapies, and has implications for the viability of the proposed WILT strategy that would disable telomerase in order to eliminate cancer. As always, it's a challenge to interfere precisely in human biochemistry when every component has multiple important functions.

An Interview With Dave Gobel of the Methuselah Foundation

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:27 am by heaven

Molecular biologist Attila Chordash recently conducted a short interview with Dave Gobel, co-founder of the Methuselah Foundation. He's been determinedly working away to make this thing a success since the beginning. You can find the interview over at Pimm. His thoughts on the Mprize for longevity research caught my eye:

You put up the money and tell competitors what they need to do. The larger the prize, the more competitors. It's like an inexpensive way of being able to put chips on every single spot on a roulette table. The best way to find a solution to unknown problems is to generate high motivation among the greatest number of thinkers/actors without too much regard to reputation of the competitors - let the best outcome win - I don’t care how they dress.

Incentives make the world go round, which is why research prizes are so effective. The prospect of money and fame are wonderful motivators, as is demonstrated in the business community each and every day. It's a pity that this obvious truth is so often forgotten when it comes to the highly regulated field of medical research and development.

07.30.08

UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News (UPI)

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:53 pm by heaven

NASA creates image Web site … FDA seizes unapproved new drugs … New 'green' transit bus is developed … U.S. beach water quality still bad overall ... Health/Science news from UPI.

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