Mediation, yoga, sleeping, fasting, green tea, basking in nature, nurturing close social bonds, there is a lot of advice on how to promote living a good, long life. What isn’t as clear is determining why some people live longer than others.
Research published in Nature Communications from the Center for Healthy Aging, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Copenhagen reports making a breakthrough, discovering that a particular protein known as OSER1 has a great influence on longevity.
Breakthrough discovery
“We identified this protein that can extend longevity (long duration of life, red.). It is a novel pro-longevity factor, and it is a protein that exists in various animals, such as fruit flies, nematodes, silkworms, and in humans,” says Professor Lene Juel Rasmussen, senior author behind the new study.
“We identified a protein commonly present in different animal models and humans. We screened the proteins and linked the data from the animals to the human cohort also used in the study. This allows us to understand whether it is translatable into humans or not,” says Zhiquan Li, who is a first author of the study.
“If the gene only exists in animal models, it can be hard to translate to human health, which is why we, in the beginning, screened the potential longevity proteins that exist in many organisms, including humans. Because at the end of the day, we are interested in identifying human longevity genes for possible interventions and drug discoveries,” adds Li.
Longevity regulatory hub
OSER1 was discovered when examining a larger group of proteins that are regulated by the FOXO major transcription factor, also known as the longevity regulatory hub.
“We found 10 genes that, when — we manipulated their expression — longevity changed. We decided to focus on one of these genes that affected longevity most, called the OSER1 gene,” says Zhiquan Li.
“We are currently focused on uncovering the role of OSER1 in humans, but the lack of existing literature presents a challenge, as very little has been published on this topic to date. This study is the first to demonstrate that OSER1 is a significant regulator of aging and longevity. In the future, we hope to provide insights into the specific age-related diseases and aging processes that OSER1 influences,” says Li.
Genes associated with a shorter lifespan increase the risk of premature aging and age-associated disease. Learning how OSER1 functions could be vital to the overall knowledge of health and aging in general, and potentially provide new avenues to combat age-related diseases such as metabolic diseases, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases.
“Thus, the discovery of this new pro-longevity factor allows us to understand longevity in humans better,” concludes Li.
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References/Sources/Materials provided by:
https://healthsciences.ku.dk/newsfaculty-news/2024/08/newly-discovered-gene-may-influence-longevity
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51542-z
https://worldhealth.net/news/common-habits-those-who-stay-looking-young-old-age/
