Tag: TOR

Biologists identify pathways that extend lifespan by 500%

Biologists identify pathways that extend lifespan by 500%

“Because alteration of the IIS pathways yields a 100 percent increase in lifespan and alteration of the TOR pathway yields a 30 percent increase, the double mutant would be expected to live 130 percent longer. But instead, its lifespan was amplified by 500 percent.

“Despite the discovery in C. elegans of cellular pathways that govern aging, it hasn’t been clear how these pathways interact,” said Hermann Haller, M.D., president of the MDI Biological Laboratory. “By helping to characterize these interactions, our scientists are paving the way for much-needed therapies to increase healthy lifespan for a rapidly aging population.””

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-biological-scientists-pathways-lifespan.html

Autism spectrum disorder, mTOR and AMPK

Autism spectrum disorder, mTOR and AMPK

“Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has a strong and complex genetic component with an estimate of more than 1000 genes implicated cataloged in SFARI (Simon0 s Foundation Autism Research Initiative) gene database. A significant part of both syndromic and idiopathic autism cases can be attributed to disorders caused by the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR)-dependent translation deregulation. We conducted gene-set analyses and revealed that 606 out of 1053 genes (58%) included in the SFARI Gene database and 179 out of 281 genes (64%) included in the first three categories of the database (“high confidence”, “strong candidate”, and “suggestive evidence”) could be attributed to one of the four groups: 1. FMRP (fragile X mental retardation protein) target genes, 2. mTOR signaling network genes, 3. mTOR-modulated genes, 4. vitamin D3 sensitive genes. The additional gene network analysis revealed 43 new genes and 127 new interactions, so in the whole 222 out of 281 (79%) high scored genes from SFARI Gene database were connected with mTOR signaling activity and/or dependent on vitamin D3 availability directly or indirectly. We hypothesized that genetic and/or environment mTOR hyperactivation, including provocation by vitamin D deficiency, might be a common mechanism controlling the expressivity of most autism predisposition genes and even core symptoms of autism.”

Headline

https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/20/24/6332/pdf

From Tea to treatment; Epigallocatechin Gallate and its potential involvement in minimizing the metabolic changes in Cancer

From Tea to treatment; Epigallocatechin Gallate and its potential involvement in minimizing the metabolic changes in Cancer

As the most abundant bioactive polyphenol in green tea, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a promising natural product that should be utilized in the discovery and development of potential drug leads. Due to its association with chemoprevention, EGCG may find a role in the development of therapeutics for prostate cancer. Natural products have long been employed as a scaffold for drug design, as their already noted bioactivity can help accelerate the development of novel treatments. Green tea and the EGCG contained within have become associated with chemoprevention, and both in vitro and in vivo studies have correlated EGCG to inhibiting cell growth and increasing the metabolic stress of cancer cells, possibly giving merit to its long utilized therapeutic use in traditional therapies. There is accumulating evidence to suggest that EGCG’s role as an inhibitor of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling cascade, acting upon major axis points within cancer survival pathways. The purpose of this review is to examine the research conducted on tea along with EGCG in the areas of the treatment of and/or prevention of cancer. This review discusses Camellia sinensis, as well as the bioactive phytochemical compounds contained within. Clinical uses of tea are explored, and possible pathways for activity are discussed before examining the evidence for EGCG’s potential for acting on these processes. EGCG is identified as being a possible lead phytochemical for future drug design investigations.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0271531719305007?dgcid=rss_sd_all&utm_source=researcher_app&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=RESR_MRKT_Researcher_inbound