新的长寿基因被鉴定：类似机制可能适用于酵母，蠕虫和人类

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New Longevity Genes Identified: Yeast, Worms And People May Age By Similar Mechanisms
新的长寿基因在酵母，蠕虫被鉴定，相似机制可能适用于人类

ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2008) — Scientists at the University of Washington and other institutions have identified 25 genes regulating lifespan in two organisms separated by about 1.5 billion years in evolutionary change. At least 15 of those genes have very similar versions in humans, suggesting that scientists may be able to target those genes to help slow down the aging process and treat age-related conditions.
《科技日报》（2008-3-12）——华盛顿大学和另外研究机构的科学家从进化历程相隔约15亿年的两种生物中鉴定出25个调控生物寿命的基因。其中至少有15个基因的版本与人类非常相似，这意味着科学家们有可能通过这些基因来减慢老化进程和治疗一些老化相关的疾病。

The two organisms used in this study, the single-celled budding yeast and the roundworm C. elegans, are commonly used models for aging research. Finding genes that are conserved between the two organisms is significant, researchers say, because the two species are so far apart on the evolutionary scale -- even farther apart than the tiny worms and humans. That, combined with the presence of similar human genes, is an indication that these genes could regulate human longevity as well.
在这项研究中用的两种生物，单细胞芽殖酵母和秀丽隐杆线虫，是研究老化过程的常用模式。 在这两种生物种找到的保守基因具有重要意义，研究人员表示，因为这两个物种在进化规模上相差甚远——甚至远超过小小的蠕虫和人类（之间的差别），再加上其与人类基因类似，便暗示着这些基因也许能调控人类寿命。

\"Now that we know what many of these genes actually are, we have potential targets to go after in humans,\" Brian Kennedy said，UW associate professor of biochemistry and one of the senior authors of the study. \"We hope that in the future we could affect those targets and improve not just lifespan, but also the 'health span' or the period of a person's life when they can be healthy and not suffer from age-related illnesses.\"
“既然我们知道了这些基因的作用，我们追求人类也有潜在的目标基因。”威斯康星大学生物化学副教授Brian Kennedy身为这项研究的一名资深作者提到： \"我们希望在将来，我们可以改善那些目标，并且不仅仅是延长寿命，而且能延长健康跨度或者说一个人生命能够健康并不受到衰老相关疾病困扰的时段。

Several of the genes that the scientists identified as being involved in aging are also connected to a key nutrient response pathway known as known as the Target of Rapamycin, or TOR. That finding gives more evidence to the theory that calorie intake and nutrient response affect lifespan by altering TOR activity. Previous studies have found that drastically restricting the caloric intake of organisms, an approach known as dietary restriction, can prolong their lifespan and reduce the incidence of age-related diseases. TOR inhibitors are being tested clinically in people for anti-cancer properties, and this work suggests they may also be useful against a variety of age-associated diseases.
几个被科学家们认定与老化有关的基因还连接着一个叫雷帕霉素靶蛋白的营养反应通路（TOR）。这个发现为热量的摄取和营养反应是通过改变TOR活动来影响寿命长短的提供了更多证据。以往的研究已经发现，作为饮食限制的一种方法，大幅限制有机体的热量摄入能延长他们的寿命并降低与老化相关的疾病。现在TOR的抑制剂以其防癌特性已经投入临床试验，而且这项工作表明它们也可能作用于多种老化引起的疾病。

\"What we'd like to eventually do is be able to mimic the effects of dietary restriction with a drug,\" explained Matt Kaeberlein, another senior author on the paper and a UW assistant professor of pathology. \"Most people don't want to cut their diet that drastically, just so they may live a little longer. But someday in the future, we may be able to accomplish the same thing with a pill.\"
“我们想在最后做的是能够用一种药物模拟饮食限制的功效”，另一位资深作者威斯康星大学病理学助理教授Matt Kaeberlein解释道，“大多数的人们不希望那样大幅度的削减饮食，而正是得那样才能活得长久一点。但总有一天，我们也许能够用一片药丸来达到同样的目的。”

These findings also give new insight into the genetic basis of aging, the scientists said, and provide some of the first quantitative evidence that genes regulating aging have been conserved during the process of evolution. Earlier evolutionary theories suggested that aging was not genetically controlled, since an organism does not get any advantage in natural selection by having a very long lifespan that goes far past their reproductive age.
科学家说，这些发现也给老化的遗传基础给予新的洞察力，并且为调控老化的基因在进化过程中的保守性提供了一些首发性的证据。早先的进化理论认为老化不是基因控制的，因为一个生物体在自然选择中并没有获得任何优势，如具有一个很长的能远远超过他们的生殖年龄的寿命。

To find these lifespan-controlling genes, the scientists took a genomic approach to comprehensively examine genes that affect aging in yeast and worms. Based on published reports, they first identified 276 genes in C. elegans that affected aging, and then searched for similar genetic sequences in the yeast genome. Of the 25 aging-related genes they found in both worms and yeast, only three had been previously thought to be conserved across many organisms.
为了找到这些控制寿命的基因，科学家们采用基因组的方法来全面的检测影响酵母和蠕虫老化的基因。根据公布的报告，他们开始在线虫中鉴定了276个影响老化的基因，然后在酵母的基因组中搜索相似的遗传序列。而在蠕虫和酵母中找到的25个与老化相关的基因中，只有3个基因是早先被认为在许多有机体的具保守性的。

Journal reference: Smith, E.D., Tsuchiya, M., Fox, L.A., Dang, N., Hu, D., Kerr, E.O., Johnston, E.D., Tchao, B.N., Pak, D.N., Welton, K.L., Promislow., D.E.L., Thomas, J.H., Kaeberlein, M., and Kennedy, B.K. Quantitative evidence for conserved longevity pathways between divergent eukaryotic species. Genome Res. doi:10.1101/gr.074724.107.