Slowing Aging: Anti-aging Pathway Enhances Cell Stress Response
Saturday, February 28, 2009 - 02:24
in Biology & Nature
Scientists have discovered a new molecular relationship critical to keeping cells healthy across a long span of time: a protein called SIRT1, important for caloric restriction and lifespan and activated by resveratrol, regulates heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), keeping it active. HSF1 in turn senses the presence of damaged proteins in the cell and elevates the expression of molecular chaperons to keep a cell's proteins in a folded, functional state. "We have identified a pathway that can be manipulated to alter lifespan," said one of the researchers.