Mother's gene affects the aging process of children

(When we get older, our cells change and get damaged.)

Recently, researchers at Karolinska Research Institute and Max Planck Institute for Biology and Aging (Karolinska Institutet and the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging) have proven that aging is not decided. only by the accumulation of changes throughout our lives but also by the genes we inherit from our mother. The results of this study were published in the journal Nature.

There are many causes of aging, aging is determined by a process of accumulating many types of changes that impair the function of organs in the body. In the aging process, however, it seems to be due to changes occurring in the energy organs of cells - mitochondria. This structure is in the cell and produces most of the cell's ATP supply, this ATP source is used as a chemical energy source.

'Mitochondria have their own DNA, this DNA changes more than the DNA in the nucleus, and this causes a significant impact on the aging process,' Nils-Göran Larsson, Ph.D., professor at Karolinska Research Institute and research director at Max Planck Research Institute for Biology and Aging, the head of the research with Lars Olson, Ph.D., professor at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska research institute said. "There are many mutations in mitochondria that gradually damage the cell's energy production process ," Larsson said.

For the first time, researchers have shown that aging is affected not only by the damaging changes of mitochondrial DNA throughout a person's life, but also by the DNA inherited from their mother. .

'Surprisingly, we have also demonstrated that maternal mitochondrial DNA seems to affect our own age , ' Larsson said. 'If we pass the mDNA with mutations from our mother, we will get older faster.'

Normal DNA and damaged DNA are inherited between generations. However, the question is whether or not the effect of mDNA aging on lifestyle interventions has not been investigated. All that researchers now know is that mDNA damage has passed down from the mother, contributing to the aging process.

'This study also shows that mutations of low mDNA levels have developmental effects and cause brain abnormalities' , the study's lead author, Jaim Ross, Ph.D, at Karolinska Research Institute. to speak.

'Our findings may help to clarify the aging process and prove that mitochondria play an important part in aging, they also show that it is important to reduce the number of mutations' , Larsson to speak.

'These findings also suggest that targeted medical interventions that target mitochondrial function can affect the timing of the aging process,' Barry Hoffer, MD., Ph.D ., co-author of the study came from the Department of Neurosurgery at Case Hospital Medical Center and Case Western Reserve Medical University. He is also a visiting professor at Karolinska Research Institute. 'There are many recommendations for diet and drug use that can restore mitochondrial function and / or reduce mitochondrial toxicity. An example is antioxidants. This mouse model will be a 'platform' to test these diets / treatments, " Dr. Hoffer said.

Data published in the above article were obtained from mouse experiments. Researchers now intend to continue their research on mice, and in fruit flies, to discover whether reducing mutations can prolong life.