An international team of researchers has shown that aging affects cellular processes in five people in the same way.
Researchers have studied how aging affectsGene transcription is the process by which genetic information is copied from a DNA strand into an RNA molecule. They analyzed how, in nematode worms, fruit flies, mice, rats and humans, the rate at which RNA polymerase II (Pol II), the enzyme that controls transcription, moves along the DNA chain changes with age.
They found that, on average, Pol II becamefaster with age, but less accurate and more error prone in all five groups. By analyzing human cells, the researchers also found that aging cells contain fewer nucleosomes. This makes it easier for the Pol II to move faster. When scientists increased the expression of histones in cells, Pol II began to work more slowly. Experiments on fruit flies have shown that such a change increases the lifespan of these animals.
Researchers studied the survival of fruit flies andworms carrying a mutation that slows down Pol II. These animals lived 10-20% longer than their non-mutant counterparts. When researchers edited genes to reverse these mutations in the worms, the animals' lifespans shortened.
Previously, scientists found that restricting diet andinhibition of insulin signaling can delay aging and increase lifespan in many animals. In the new study, the scientists noted that such approaches also affect the speed of Pol II movement.
Changes in the Pol II transcription process are associatedwith many diseases, including various types of cancer, and a number of drugs have been developed that target Pol II and the molecules that alleviate it. With more analysis, some of them could be repurposed to slow aging, the scientists add.
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On the cover: RNA polymerase II. Image: David Bushnell, Ken Westover and Roger Kornberg, Stanford University