Aging & Longevity

We explored the intricate quantitative structure of household food waste and their corresponding life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from raw materials to retail utilizing a combination of household- and food-related economic statistics and life cycle assessment in Japan. Given Japan's status as a nation heavily impacted by an aging population, this study estimates these indicators for the six age brackets of Japanese households, showing that per capita food waste increases as the age of the...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) presents a growing societal challenge, driven by an aging population. It is characterized by neurodegeneration linked to β-amyloid (Aβ) and tau protein aggregation. Reactive glial cell-mediated neuroinflammation exacerbates disease progression by facilitating the accumulation of Aβ and impairing its clearance, thus highlighting potential therapeutic targets. Aerial parts of Artemisia iwayomogi (AIH), a kind of mugwort, has been consumed as a medicinal herb in East Asia...

Sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) has many functions, but its most notable contribution lies in the intricate regulation of cell senescence and lifespan. The effect of the SIRT6 gene on body size and longevity in dogs has not been extensively studied, particularly with regard to alternative splicing mechanisms. To address this gap, the present study used a comprehensive approach that integrated bioinformatics analysis, DNA sequence analysis, and next-generation sequencing-based targeted sequencing analyses. Our...

Arterial thrombosis is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide with no effective bioassay for clinical prediction. As a symbolic feature of arterial thrombosis, severe stenosis in the blood vessel creates a high-shear, high-gradient flow environment that facilitates platelet aggregation towards vessel occlusion. Here, we present a thrombus profiling assay that monitors the multi-dimensional attributes of thrombi forming in such biomechanical conditions. Using this assay, we demonstrate...

Caloric restriction (CR) can extend the organism life- and health-span by improving glucose homeostasis. How CR affects the structure-function of pancreatic beta cells remains unknown. We used single nucleus transcriptomics to show that CR increases the expression of genes for beta cell identity, protein processing, and organelle homeostasis. Gene regulatory network analysis reveal that CR activates transcription factors important for beta cell identity and homeostasis, while imaging...

Cellular senescence has been implicated in many age-related pathologies including atherosclerosis, heart failure, age-related cardiac remodeling, diabetic cardiomyopathy and the metabolic syndrome. Here, we will review the characteristics of senescent cells and their endogenous regulators, and summarize the metabolic stressors that induce cell senescence. We will discuss the evidence of cell senescence in the onset and progression of several cardiometabolic diseases and the therapeutic potential...

Subcortical brain structures are involved in developmental, psychiatric and neurological disorders. Here we performed genome-wide association studies meta-analyses of intracranial and nine subcortical brain volumes (brainstem, caudate nucleus, putamen, hippocampus, globus pallidus, thalamus, nucleus accumbens, amygdala and the ventral diencephalon) in 74,898 participants of European ancestry. We identified 254 independent loci associated with these brain volumes, explaining up to 35% of...

The dysfunction of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) facilitates the malignant progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). While targeting the UPS for HCC therapy has been proposed, identifying effective targets has been challenging. In this study, we conducted a focused screen of siRNA libraries targeting UPS-related WD40 repeat (WDR) proteins and found that silencing WDR20, a deubiquitinating enzyme activating factor, selectively inhibited the proliferation of HCC cells without...

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Genome-wide association studies have advanced our understanding of complex traits, but studying how a GWAS variant can affect a specific trait in the human population remains challenging due to environmental variability. Drosophila melanogaster is in this regard an excellent model organism for studying the relationship between genetic and phenotypic variation due to its simple handling, standardized growth conditions, low cost, and short lifespan. The Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) in...

Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide, particularly affecting those in their later years. As the incidence of breast cancer increases with age, understanding the biological mechanisms that link aging and cancer becomes crucial. Cellular senescence, a hallmark of aging, plays a dual role in cancer by inhibiting tumorigenesis while also contributing to tumor progression through the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). This study aims to...

Biomarkers of biological aging predict health outcomes more accurately than chronological age. This study examines the relationship between aging biomarkers, immune function, and kidney health using the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study Biomarker Dataset. Using Wave 5 (year 9) and Wave 6 (year 15), we examined biomarker data from a total of 4898 individuals. The panel of aging biomarkers, comprised of epigenetic clocks (GrimAge, Horvath), immune function markers (CD8 + T cells,...

Dual-functional stability (DFS) in cognitive and physical abilities is important for successful aging. This study examines the brain topology profiles that underpin high DFS in older adults by testing two hypotheses: (1) older adults with high DFS would exhibit a unique brain organization that preserves their physical and cognitive functions across various tasks, and (2) any individuals with this distinct brain topology would consistently show high DFS. We analyzed two cohorts of cognitively and...

Mitophagy is the intracellular recycling system that disposes damaged/inefficient mitochondria and allows biogenesis of new organelles to ensure mitochondrial quality is optimized. Dysfunctional mitophagy has been implicated in human aging and diseases. Multiple evolutionarily selected, redundant mechanisms of mitophagy have been identified, but their specific roles in human health and their potential exploitation as therapeutic targets are unclear. Recently, the characterization of the...

Sarcopenia is a common musculoskeletal disorder characterized by degenerative processes and is strongly linked to an increased susceptibility to falls, fractures, physical limitations, and mortality. Several models have been used to explore therapeutic and preventative measures as well as to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms behind sarcopenia. With novel experimental methodologies emerging to design foods or novel versions of conventional foods, understanding the impact of nutrition on...

Aging is a universal biological process characterized by a progressive, cumulative decline in homeostatic capabilities and physiological functions, which inevitably increases vulnerability to diseases. A number of molecular pathomechanisms and hallmarks of aging have been recognized, yet we miss a thorough understanding of their complex interconnectedness. This review explores the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying human aging, with a focus on the multiple roles of high mobility group...

Cancer is caused by an accumulation of somatic mutations and copy number alterations (CNAs). Besides mutations, these copy number changes are key characteristics of cancer development. Nonetheless, some tumors show hardly any CNAs, a remarkable phenomenon in oncogenesis. Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) arise by either exposure to carcinogens, or infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV-negative HNSCCs are generally characterized by many CNAs and frequent mutations in...

Yamanaka factors (YFs) can reverse some aging features in mammalian tissues, but their effects on the brain remain largely unexplored. Here, we induced YFs in the mouse brain in a controlled spatiotemporal manner in two different scenarios: brain development and adult stages in the context of neurodegeneration. Embryonic induction of YFs perturbed cell identity of both progenitors and neurons, but transient and low-level expression is tolerated by these cells. Under these conditions, YF...

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This study highlighted the importance of eHealth literacy and self-efficacy in improving HRQoL among older adults, supporting the development of tailored interventions to promote their HRQoL.

Morphogens play a critical role in coordinating stress adaptation and aging across tissues, yet their involvement in neuronal mitochondrial stress responses and systemic effects remains unclear. In this study, we reveal that the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) DAF-7 is pivotal in mediating the intestinal mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR^(mt)) in Caenorhabditis elegans under neuronal mitochondrial stress. Two ASI sensory neurons produce DAF-7, which targets DAF-1/TGF-β...