Live long and starve

Cory Doctorow 8:48 am Mon May 19, 2003

Still more evidence that starving yourself will make you live longer.

For decades researchers have known that severe calorie restriction extends the lives of many organisms like yeast, fruit flies, worms, and rats, and it also slows the aging process and prevents cancer in rats. But why less food seems to help organisms live longer has been puzzling. While Sir2 is a necessary part of the equation, calorie restriction does not affect Sir2 levels, indicating that Sir2 must be regulated by another protein that does respond to calorie restriction.

Some researchers have speculated that NAD, a cofactor of Sir2 and a common metabolite in the cell, acts as a regulatory mechanism. Because NAD levels vary with rates of metabolism in yeast, this model suggests that calorie restriction might lengthen lifespan by lowering metabolism. However, Sinclair's group showed that the effect of PNC1 was independent of NAD availability. They believe that the real regulator of Sir2 is nicotinamide, which is one of the products of the reaction between Sir2 and NAD.

(via Oblomovka)

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