A New Molecular Pathway Found To Control Aging

A conserved molecular pathway has been discovered by a team of researchers led by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The pathway controls lifespan and health span in mice and nematode worms Caenorhabditis elegans. It is a common model organism in biological research.

The study first author Dr. Nelson Hsieh from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has said that by artificially increasing or decreasing the levels of a family of proteins called Kruppel - like transcription factors (KLFs), they can actually get C. elegans to live for longer or shorter time periods. It has been found that the same family of proteins also exists in mammals. The data suggested that the KLFs also indulge in similar effects on aging in mammals too. Dr. Hsieh and colleagues showed in the study that C. elegans with high levels of KLF proteins lived longer and healthier than the normal worms.

Also, mice with excess levels of these proteins showed a delay in blood vessel dysfunction linked with the aging. The study got published in the journal Nature Communications.

By: Bhavna Sharma

Content: www.sci-news.com