{"id":227226,"date":"2025-12-16T13:06:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T19:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/boosting-one-mitochondrial-protein-increases-lifespan-and-slows-aging-in-mice"},"modified":"2025-12-16T13:06:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T19:06:55","slug":"boosting-one-mitochondrial-protein-increases-lifespan-and-slows-aging-in-mice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/boosting-one-mitochondrial-protein-increases-lifespan-and-slows-aging-in-mice","title":{"rendered":"Boosting One Mitochondrial Protein Increases Lifespan And Slows Aging in Mice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/boosting-one-mitochondrial-protein-increases-lifespan-and-slows-aging-in-mice.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Tiny biological batteries <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/your-cells-powerhouses-are-secretly-helping-fight-bacteria-study-finds\">known as mitochondria<\/a> keep the body\u2019s cells running smoothly, and their gradual decline is linked to a wide range of age-related diseases. Now scientists think they have found a way to keep mitochondria powered for longer.<\/p>\n<p>A protein called <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/COX7A2L\">COX7RP<\/a> is key to this discovery from researchers at the Saitama Medical University and Chiba University in Japan. The protein is <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-019-12124-6\">thought<\/a> to help mitochondria form <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Supercomplex\">supercomplexes<\/a>, structures that improve energy efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>In the new study, male mice engineered to produce extra COX7RP showed a host of differences compared with controls, including a 6.6 percent increase in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/lifespan-is-shaped-more-by-your-choices-than-your-genes-study-finds\">average lifespan<\/a> and indicators of an extended healthspan \u2013 being able to live healthier for longer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tiny biological batteries known as mitochondria keep the body\u2019s cells running smoothly, and their gradual decline is linked to a wide range of age-related diseases. Now scientists think they have found a way to keep mitochondria powered for longer. A protein called COX7RP is key to this discovery from researchers at the Saitama Medical University [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":396,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,269],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-227226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-life-extension"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/396"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}