A protein makes nematodes age faster
Published: Wednesday, Feb 21st 2024, 08:10
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A protein causes nematodes to die earlier. This discovery raises the question of whether the protein also influences the ageing process in humans, according to a press release issued by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) on Wednesday.
Although humans and nematodes of the species C. elegans are very different, the protein called Malt1 occurs in an identical form in both organisms, as the SNSF wrote.
In a study published in the journal "Autophagy Reports", a research team from the University of Lausanne therefore investigated the functions of this protein in nematodes.
Inhibits the cleansing system of the cells
It was already known that Malt1 activates certain brain cells in the worms that protect the animal from too much oxygen. However, as has now been discovered, the protein also inhibits the body's cleansing system, known as autophagy.
Autophagy is responsible for chopping up, eliminating or recycling defective or damaged molecules. If this endogenous waste disposal does not function properly or at all, not only do the cells work less well, but the entire organism lives less long. In the study, the researchers showed that the worms lived longer when the Malt1 protein was deactivated.
Interesting for treatments
Whether the same protein also inhibits the cleansing system in humans has not yet been investigated, according to the researchers. "The only proven similarity between worms and humans is that autophagy functions less well with increasing age," first author Julie Véripère was quoted as saying in the press release. The fact that the cleansing system functions less well in old age can trigger muscle weakness and certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, which often occur in older people.
With regard to possible treatments, however, such a connection between the protein and autophagy would be interesting according to the researcher - if it really exists.
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