Researchers close on ageing
Wednesday November 2nd, 2011
Scientists say they have got a step close to finding out how to slow down the ageing process - by studying the effects of calorie restriction.
Researchers
have reported for some time that reducing the consumption of calories-
fasting - can somehow help to stave off the effects of age.
Now researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, say they have found an enzyme linked to the process.
The enzyme, peroxiredoxin or Prxl, plays a key role in preventing damage to genetic material, they say. And fasting helps to protect it from being inactivated, they have found.
This is because fasting leads to the production of a second enzyme, Srxl, which repairs Prxl. Prxl's job is to break down hydrogen peroxide - bleach - in cells.
Researcher Mikael Molin said that stimulating Prxl might be a way to counteract progressive diseases, such as Parkinson's disease.
He said: "Impaired Prx1 function leads to various types of genetic defects and cancer. Conversely, we can now speculate whether increased repair of Prx1 during ageing can counteract, or at least delay, the development of cancer."
* Researchers at Durham University, UK, and the University of Bologna, Italy, report another potential drug therapy to repair DNA damage to cells and slow ageing.
The findings come from a study of Hutchinson Gilford Progeria Syndrome, a rare disease which causes premature ageing in children.
They found that a common drug N-acetyl cysteine - NAC - can reverse the DNA damage involved in the disease in laboratory studies of diseased cells.
They reported their findings in Human Molecular Genetics.
Professor Chris Hutchison, of Durham University, said: "In children with progeria, we can see that double-strand breaks in the DNA architecture of cells increase which in turn adds to poor rates of cell growth.
"Our treatment of these cells with the drug N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) reversed both of these effects.
"Mutations in the LMNA gene cause more diseases, such as muscular dystrophy, than any other that we know. We've found that DNA damage can be controlled and our findings could be an important step to helping both children with Progeria and older people to live lives that are less debilitating in terms of health problems."
Human Molecular Genetics November 2 2011
Tags: Brain & Neurology | Cancer | Child Health | Diet & Food | Elderly Health | Europe | Genetics | UK News
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