Present Themes in Mainstream Aging Research
From Maria Konovalenko: "Melanie Swan, MBA, is an Affiliate Scholar of the IEET [and] recently summarized some important themes in aging research that were discussed at the second Bay Area Aging Meeting. ... Two interesting talks concerned UCP2 (mitochondrial uncoupling protein 2) an enzyme which reduces the rate of ATP synthesis and regulates bioenergy balance. UCP2 and UCP3 have an important but not yet fully understood role in regulating ROS (reactive oxygen species) and overall metabolic function, possibly by allowing protons to enter the mitochondria without oxidative phosphorylation. The mechanism was explored in results that worm lifespan was extended by inserting zebrafish UCP2 genes (not natively present in the worm) ... Two talks addressed the issue of immune system compromise. One team created a predictive analysis that could be used to assess an individual's immune profile and potential response to vaccines by evaluating demographics, chronic infection status, gene expression data, cytokine levels, and cell subset function. Other work looked into the specific mechanisms that may degrade immune systems in older organisms. ... Aging and other biological processes become more complicated with progression up the chain of model organisms. What works in yeast and worms may not work in mice, and what works in mice and rats may not work in humans. Some interesting research looked at ribosomal proteins, whose deletion is known to extend lifespan in model organisms. The key points were [that] there was fairly little (perhaps less than 20%) overlap in lifespan-extending ribosomal protein deletions conserved between yeast and worms."