ENZYME DISCOVERY RELATED TO DIET RESTRICTION BRINGS US ONE STEP CLOSER TO A LONGEVITY PILL

SCIENCE:

Experiment after experiment confirms that a diet on the brink of starvation expands lifespan in mice and many other species.

But the molecular mechanism that links nutrition and survival is still poorly understood.

Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a pivotal role for two enzymes that work together to determine the health benefits of diet restriction.

When lacking one enzyme or the other, roundworms kept on a severely calorie-restricted diet no longer live past their normal lifespan, they report in the June 24, 2009, advance online edition of the journal Nature.

"The only other known factor regulating longevity in response to diet restriction operates at the very end of the signaling cascade," said Howard Hughes Medical Investigator and senior author Andrew Dillin, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory.

"These two enzymes are further up the ladder, bringing us closer to the receptor that receives the signal for throwing the switch to promote a healthy lifespan."

Identifying the receptor may allow researchers to design drugs that mimic the signal and could lead to new treatments for age-related diseases.

FASTER, PLEASE!