TOKYO — Centenarians have unique gut bacteria that enables them to live to a ripe old age, according to new research. Scientists in Japan say this unique gut makeup fuels bile acids that protect against disease.
The discovery could lead to yogurts and other probiotic foods that increase longevity.
“In people over the age of 100, an enrichment in a distinct set of gut microbes generate unique bile acids,” says lead author Professor Kenya Honda of Keio University in a statement per South West News Service. “They might inhibit the growth of pathogens.”
Scientists have discovered that the protein ubiquitin plays an important role in the regulation of the aging process. Ubiquitin was previously known to control processes such as signal transduction and metabolism. Prof. Dr. David Vilchez and his colleagues at the CECAD Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research at the University of Cologne performed a comprehensive quantitative analysis of ubiquitin signatures during aging in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode worm broadly used for aging research. This method—called ubiquitin proteomics—measures all changes in ubiquitination of proteins in the cell.
The resulting data provide site-specific information and define quantitative changes in ubiquitin changes across all proteins in a cell during aging. A comparison with the total protein content of a cell (proteome) showed which changes have functional consequences in protein turnover and actual protein content during aging. The scientists thus discovered new regulators of lifespan and provide a comprehensive dataset that helps to understand aging and longevity. The article, “Rewiring of the ubiquitinated proteome determines aging in C. elegans,” has now been published in Nature.
“Our study of ubiquitin changes led us to a number of exciting conclusions with important insights for understanding the aging process,” said Dr. Seda Koyuncu, lead author of the study. “We discovered that aging leads to changes in the ubiquitination of thousands of proteins in the cell, whereas longevity measures such as reduced food intake and reduced insulin signaling prevent these changes.” Specifically, the researchers found that aging causes a general loss of ubiquitination. This is caused by the enzymes that remove ubiquitin from proteins become more active during aging. Normally, ubiquitinated proteins are recognized and destroyed by the proteasome, the cell’s garbage truck. The scientists showed that the longevity of organisms is determined by age-related changes in the degradation of structural and regulatory proteins by the proteasome.
With around two weeks still remaining in its crowdfunding campaign, Buck Institute incubated start-up Gerostate Alpha has cruised through its minimum funding target of $300000. The company also revealed that Longevitytech.fund has joined the round as a lead investor, bringing the total investment in the company to more than $500000 so far.
“At Longevitytech.fund, we invest in start-ups focused on aging that will materially ‘move the needle,’” says the investment firm’s managing partner, Petr Sramek. “The team at Gerostate Alpha is poised to do just that in the coming years, and we are very excited to partner with them for the long haul.”
Longevity. Technology: For early stage biotech companies, particularly those targeting aging,securing funding is a constant challenge. Gerostate Alpha is “testing the water” by exploring crowdfunding as another financing option, and seems to have had some success with it. We caught up with the company’s co-founders Simon Melov and Mark Lucanic to find out more.
Exercise: Good for your mind, body, and telomeres!
Introduction: Telomeres are DNA portions that are located on the two ends of the chromosome. Telomeres play an important role in cellular life. Exercise is one of the factors that contributes to their control. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of high intensity interval training (HIIT) on telomere length and telomerase activity in non-athletic young men. Materials and methods: 30 inactive students were selected as sample and randomly divided into two groups of exercise (15 people) and control (15 people) in this semi-experimental study. The exercise group performed 8 weeks of HIIT exercise in 3 sessions per week with an intensity of 150 to 175% of their maximum power (Pmax). Control group subjects did not do regular sport activities. To measure telomere length and telomerase activity, 10 ml of blood was taken from the brachial vein of the subjects 24 hours before the first and after the last exercise session. The dependent t was used to analyze intra-group and independent t for within-group differences. Results: The findings of this study showed that 8 weeks of HIIT training in non-athlete young men resulted in a significant increase in telomere length (P = 0.001) and telomerase activity (P = 0.001). Conclusion: It seems that HIIT can alter telomerase activity and telomere length. Therefore, these training may have a positive effect on cell biology.
The science and technology of growing young — sergey young, founder, longevity vision fund.
Sergey Young (https://sergeyyoung.com/) is a longevity investor, visionary, and author, with a mission to help one billion people extend their healthy lifespans by making longevity affordable and accessible for everyone. As part of this mission, he is the Founder of the Longevity Vision Fund (LVF — https://lvf.vc/), a $100 Million venture capital fund that invests in technologies with the potential to disrupt life sciences and healthcare to help people live longer and healthier lives.
Sergey’s investment experience, spanning over 20 years, includes managing a $2 Billion private equity fund and co-founding Peak State Ventures, a New York-based private equity fund focusing on new technologies in Real Estate, Digital Healthcare, and the Future of Work. Sergey is also Longevity Venture Partner at BOLD Capital Partners, a $250 Million fund focusing on exponential technologies co-founded by Peter Diamandis.
Sergey’s longevity-related activities also include the following:
- Innovation Board Member at XPRIZE Foundation, dedicated to solving the world’s biggest problems;
Papers referenced in the video: A new aging measure captures morbidity and mortality risk across diverse subpopulations from NHANES IV: A cohort study. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30596641/
Nir Barzilai, Albert Einstein School of Medicine. TAME Q&A: Lessons for Progress on Aging.
About Nir Barzilai: Nir Barzilai, MD, is a Professor in the Department of Endocrinology Medicine and the Department of Genetics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is also the Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Chair of Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Barzilai is the founding director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Director of the Nathan Shock Center for Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH); the center is coordinating 80 investigators and six program projects on the biology of aging. He is also the director of the Glenn Center of Excellence in the Biology of Human Aging. He is a chaired professor of medicine and of genetics and a member of the Diabetes Research Center and the divisions of endocrinology and geriatrics. Dr. Barzilai’s interests focus on several basic mechanisms in the biology of aging, including the biological effects of nutrients on extending life and the genetic determinants of life span. His team discovered many longevity gene in humans, and they further characterized the phenotype and genotype of humans with exceptional longevity through NIH awards. He also has an NIH Merit award investigating the metabolic decline that accompanies aging and its impact on longevity. Dr. Barzilai has published more than 270 peer-reviewed papers, reviews and chapters in textbooks. Dr. Barzilai serves on several editorial boards and advisory boards of pharmaceutical and start-up companies, and is a reviewer for numerous journals. A Beeson Fellow for Aging Research, Dr. Barzilai has received many other prestigious awards, including the Senior Ellison Foundation Award, the 2010 Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction in Aging Research, the NIA–Nathan Shock Award and a merit award from the NIA for his contributions in elucidating metabolic and genetic mechanisms of aging and was the 2018 recipient of the IPSEN Longevity award. He is leading the TAME (Targeting/Taming Aging with Metformin) Trial, a multi-center study to prove the concept that multi morbidities of aging can be delayed in humans and change the FDA indications to allow for next generation interventions. He is a founder of CohBar Inc. (now public company) and Medical Advisor for Life Biosciences. He is on the board of AFAR and a founding member of the Academy for Lifespan and Healthspan. He has been featured in major papers, TV programs, and documentaries (TEDx and TEDMED) and has been consulting or presented the promise for targeting aging at The Singapore Prime Minister Office, several International Banks, The Vatican, Pepsico, Milkin Institute, The Economist and Wired Magazine. His book, Age Later: Health Span, Life Span, and the New Science of Longevity, was published by St. Martin’s Press in June of 2020.
4:47 BioAge, 8:10 Church talking about how controlling aging is no longer speculative, 10:44 urging caution as they are not really talking about turning 67 year olds into 20 year olds. Near the end Church mentions A.I. an exponential possibilities of hitting all the pathways at once.
Recently, Avi Roy, alongside Nathan Cheng & Laura Minquini, hosted the second Longevity Panel discussion, which assembled some of the brightest minds working on reversing aging, and enhancing health and life span.
As with the first event, this discussion was intended to illuminate how they are approaching longevity and to know if we are any closer in achieving it.
The talk was split into two sections: the first being open discussion guided by questions from the hosts. The talk was then opened up to the floor, allowing audience questions. Part 1 will provide the transcript from the first section of the Longevity Panel. Enjoy!
You can check out the full transcript, with addition links on the Gowing Life website:
I know that this is controversial in the longevity community, but there was overwhelming agreement among the dentists I talked with that mouthwash is excellent for preventing gingivitis (one study found that it was more effective than flossing) and reducing plaque.
Are you working to extend your healthspan and lifespan? Address the most common aging teeth problems with these dentist-approved tricks.
A summary of the sequel trial for a cocktail of drugs that originally turned back epigenetic clocks by 2.5 years. I do wonder what effect plasma filtering has on the thymus if any.
In this video we review the TRIIM study and look at the trial document for TRIIM-X, the extension study that Dr. Fahy is now conducting.
Timing — If you are familiar with the TRIIM Study please use the time links below to jump to TRIIM-X 0:12 : TRIIM Paper Review. 7:11 : TRIIM-X Trial Review. 08:59 : TRIIM vs TRIIM-X
