Lab Rats

Big step in the fight against aging

A few years ago, responding to a query from a senior member of the Indian Academy of Science on tips for keeping the memory sharp and brain active (he said he had problems remembering phone numbers), the noted neurosurgeon from the National Brain Research Centre in Haryana, Dr P N Tandon, said: "Use it [brain] or lose it."

But that might not apply directly to other organs in the body, like liver and heart - using them more could wear them out. Most of the organs decline in function either due to a disorder or aging itself. In fact, decline in the function of one organ can affect the function of another. In aging, cells lose their efficiency in getting rid of damaged protein, leading to a build-up of toxic material. This is pronounced in diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and other neurodegenerative disorders.  

Now for the first time, scientists have succeeded in preventing the age-related decline in an entire organ, the liver, and as a result of which, livers of older animals have functioned as well as when the animals were much younger.

Publishing their work in Nature Medicine today, Ana Maria Cuervo and Cong Zhang of Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, say these findings suggest that therapies for boosting (damaged) protein clearance might help ward off some of the deterioration in function that come with old age.

All organisms have cellular surveillance systems that are meant to find, digest and recycle damaged proteins. Previous studies have shown that these surveillance systems lose efficiency with age, allowing protein to accumulate inside cells. But it has been debated whether this protein build up contributes to the functional losses of aging or instead is simply associated with those losses. This new study aims to resolve the controversy. 

Continuing her work, Cuervo wants to investigate whether maintaining efficient protein clearance in all the body's tissues will influence longevity and prevent the functional losses associated with growing old. "There's reason to hope that drugs exerting a similar effect throughout the body may help us enjoy healthier lives well into old age," she says. However, evidence is mounting that two dietary interventions -low fat and calorie-restricted diets - help cells to maintain efficient protein clearance, she adds.