Aric N. Rogers, Ph.D. (IMAGE)
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In new research, Aric N. Rogers, Ph.D., who studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms of aging at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, has discovered that muscle may be a protected tissue under conditions of dietary restriction, or DR. Dietary restriction, in which calories are restricted without malnutrition, is one of the most robust anti-aging interventions. When confronted with a scarcity of nutrients, an organism conserves resources by lowering the translation, or production, of proteins, which is one of the most energetically expensive processes in the cell. The conservation of cellular resources through reduced protein translation allows an organism to survive so that it can reproduce when food becomes plentiful. But it comes at the cost of a reduction in anabolic function, or growth and reproduction. Working in the tiny nematode worm, C. elegans, Rogers sought to identify the effects of genetically suppressing protein translation in various tissues. While skin, nerve and reproductive tissue responded as expected with enhanced survival and decreased growth and reproduction, the effect was the opposite in muscle: instead of being suppressed, growth and reproduction were accelerated. Rogers theorizes that muscle may be protected under conditions of nutrient scarcity in order to support the ability of an organism to forage for food. The results suggest that it may be possible to develop anti-aging drugs that prolong healthy lifespan without the loss of muscle tissue.
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MDI Biological Laboratory
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