After 19 years of research, this year published "Science": men and women have different lifespan, and these gene clusters are related to the length of life

Researchers at the National Institute on Aging (NIA)-funded intervention testing program recently reported that they have identified multiple candidate genes
that affect lifespan 。 Three intervention pilot project sites – the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine – and the laboratory of Dr.
Robert W.
Williams of the University of Tennessee Memphis Health Science Center and Lausanne & Eacute, Switzerland; The cole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne's lab of Johan Auwerx, M.
D.
, collaborated on the study
.

"Some candidate genes affect the lifespan of women, while others affect the lifespan of men," said
Dr.
Randy Strong of the Sam and Ampathhorpe Longevity and Aging Institute at the University of Texas in San Antonio.
"A group of genes increases the lifespan
of both sexes.
Very rare in such studies, these findings were made in a population of mice with comparable genetic diversity to humans
.
”

The results of the study
were published in the journal Science on September 30.
The program first attracted funding from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) for the Intervention Testing Program in 2003, and this year marks the 19th year of NIA funding
.

Genetic buffet

Dr James Nelson, study co-author of the Barshop Institute, said: "This study simulates the human condition
.
Unlike the mice in many other studies, the mice in this newly reported study are not all the same
.
Each person has different genetic variations, resulting in slightly different proteins and slightly different functions, which together affect aging
.
”

As we age, even small differences can lead to different health outcomes
.
Nelson notes, for example, that slight variations in the hemoglobin gene can lead to a decrease
in the efficiency of hemoglobin in red blood cells that binds to oxygen and transfers oxygen from the lungs to body tissues.
Anemia is an impact
.

Women live longer

Strong says it's interesting and important
to find only the gene loci that affect lifespan in females.
Genetic loci are clusters
of 10 to 100 genes.
"You can explore that women and men differ in
almost all aspects of aging.
They must all be studied to understand aging in both sexes and to develop effective treatments
.
If we gave women the same medication as men, and women's aging is caused by different genes, our treatment would not be as effective
.
”

Confirm in nematodes

The next step is to scrutinize these candidate genes to find those responsible for longevity
.
In the final part of the Science article, the team reports on this practice
.
The researchers tested candidate genes for nematodes because they have a short lifespan and are often used in aging studies
.
"Many of the candidate genes do affect the lifespan
of nematodes," Nelson said.

The researchers say this does not prove that these genes affect human lifespan
.
But that's another reason
to continue researching the genetic basis of longevity.

Powerful study design

Strong said that as envisioned at the beginning of the intervention pilot project, there were three sites where the study was conducted, ensuring the statistical power, rigor and reproducibility of
the findings.

The authors say the study is unique in that it is based on a large sample of
thousands of animals.
"Of all the studies that tried to identify genes that affect lifespan, it used the largest number of mice
," Nelson said.

Maroun Bou Sleiman, Suheeta Roy, Arwen W.
Gao, Marie C.
Sadler, Giacomo V.
G.
von Alvensleben, Hao Li, Saunak Sen, David E.
Harrison, James F.
Nelson, Randy Strong, Richard A.
Miller, Zolt& aacute; n Kutalik, Robert W.
Williams, Johan Auwerx.
Sex- and age-dependent genetics of longevity in a heterogeneous mouse population.
Science, 2022; 377 (6614)