Researchers have highlighted the role of a gene explaining why eating less helps delay the brain aging process.
- Researchers have highlighted how dietary restriction can protect the brain by delaying its aging, and thus ward off the risk of developing a neurodegenerative disease with age.
- They were able to identify one gene in particular, called OXR1, that significantly affected longevity under dietary restriction, including protecting cells from oxidative damage in the brain.
- “Dietary restriction affects the OXR1 gene. By eating less, we actually improve this protein sorting mechanism in our cells, because our cells enhance the expression of this gene.”
Dietary restriction, which simply involves eating less, is known to improve health and increase life expectancy. “When people limit the amount of food they eat, they usually think that it might affect their digestive tract or their fat accumulation, but not necessarily that it also affects the brain.”
A team of scientists from Buck Institute for Research on Agingin the United States, has just lifted the veil a little more on the way in which dietary restriction can protect the brain by delaying its aging, and thus ward off the risk of developing a neurodegenerative disease with age.
Discovery of a gene that affects longevity in the event of dietary restriction
To reach these conclusions, published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers examined fruit flies of different genetic backgrounds. Some were fed a normal diet, others were subject to a dietary restriction (10% of the normal dose). The researchers carried out the same experiments on human cells in parallel.
They were able to identify a particular gene that significantly affected longevity under dietary restriction. Called “mustard” or mtd in fruit flies and “oxidation resistance 1” or OXR1 in humans and mice, “this gene protects cells against oxidative damage in the brain, and its loss leads to severe neurological abnormalities and premature death in humans”can we read in a communicated.
By wanting to understand how this gene active in neurons influences overall lifespan, the team discovered thatOXR1/mtd affects the retromer, a set of proteins necessary for cell recycling. However, retromer dysfunction has already been associated with age-related neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
By eating less, we improve the recycling of proteins in our cells
“Our results show that the retromer pathway, which is involved in the reuse of cellular proteins, plays a key role in protecting neurons when nutrients are limited”, explains Professor Pankaj Kapahi, who participated in the study. It sums : “Dietary restriction affects the OXR1 gene. By eating less, we actually improve this protein sorting mechanism in our cells, because our cells enhance the expression of this gene.”
Additionally, the team found that increasing mtd in the flies helped them live longer. This led her to speculate that, in humans, excessive expression of OXR1 could help extend lifespan. “Our next step is to identify specific compounds that increase OXR1 levels to delay brain aging.”
