Genes' role in human lifespan discovered

A group of genes known to regulate lifespan in model organisms such as fruit flies, has now been shown to impact longevity in humans.

Reviewing data from studies of over 11,000 long-lived people, researchers found that people with naturally reduced activity in a group of protein translation genes had longer lifespans.

Lead author Dr Nazif Alic, from the UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing in London, said: 'We have already seen from extensive previous research that inhibiting certain genes involved in making proteins in our cells, can extend lifespan in model organisms such as yeast, worms and flies. […] Here, we have found that inhibiting these genes may also increase longevity in people.'

The genes implicated in his study code for RNA polymerases which are involved in making proteins. Specifically the genes are linked to polymerases Pol I and Pol III and the subunits they consist of.

Researchers discovered that the expression of these genes varied in different tissues. For example, increased Pol III expression in adipose tissue, or fat, is associated with decreased longevity. Decreased Pol I expression in skeletal muscle was linked with human longevity.

Dr Alic said that 'in humans, loss of function in these genes has been seen to cause diseases, such as developmental disorders known as ribosomopathies'. He suggests that these genes may perhaps be 'most useful early in life before causing problems in late life'. This is known as antagonistic pleiotropy, where genes which are important early in life may be evolutionarily selected for, despite them having a detrimental effect later in life (after childbearing is likely to be completed).

The authors suggest that further investigating the link between protein translation machinery and ageing may lead to the development of targeted anti-ageing treatments.

The drug rapamycin, an immunosuppressant, has previously been proposed as potential candidate anti-ageing drug. It is an immune regulator which acts to inhibit the RNA polymerase Pol III and the findings of this study suggest potential further uses for this drug.

The study was published in Genome Research.