Revealing the molecular mechanism of pressure accelerating cell chromosome and even organism aging

December 20, 2019 / BIOON / -- aging is irreversible for all organisms Although we still don't know why the body is aging gradually, now we have begun to understand how aging occurs Recently, a research report published in the International Journal of ecology letters summarizes that researchers have identified the most important factors affecting the aging process of the body from the DNA level, and at the same time, researchers have revealed how stress causes the biochemical clock acceleration of chromosomes Photo source: lightspring / shutterstock, as a genetic material in cells, DNA does not float freely in the nucleus, but organizes into clumps called chromosomes When cells classify and produce replicas, they will make DNA copies Because of the way this process works, one end of each DNA molecule will always lose a small part To protect critical parts of DNA from being lost in the process, the ends of chromosomes are covered by special structures called telomeres It will gradually decrease in the process of continuous cell division; the gradual decrease of telomere is like a cell clock Every time a cell replicates, the telomere will become shorter, to a certain extent, it will become very short, which will force the cell into the death process, and the key problem is in this process This process, which plays a role at the cell level, means to the death of the body What? Is the fate of a single cell really that important? Is the ticking telomere clock really counting down? Cell aging is one of many components of aging, but it is also the most important one The tissue of our body will continue to degenerate, and the irreversible cell death is also the most significant cause of aging effects, such as the loss of physical strength, the degradation of connective tissue leading to skin wrinkling, or neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease How to make the body work normally? Another key question is whether there are some factors that will accelerate or slow down the loss of telomere Up to now, researchers have not answered this question completely Some studies have shown that events such as infection or using extra energy for reproduction can accelerate the shortening of telomere and accelerate the aging of the body These evidences are scattered, but these factors seem to have one thing in common, that is, they will cause physiological pressure Generally speaking, when the cells of the body are disturbed by biochemical process, the cells of the body will feel pressure, which may be due to lack of resources or other reasons, such as if the cells lose too much water, they may be in the state of dehydration pressure State Many of the more common types of stress are also very important Fatigue will put us under long-term stress, and so will long-term anxiety Lack of sleep or emotional stress will change the internal cellular pathways of the body, including telomere function Considering this, we will ask a simple question: is it true that a person experiences multiple types of stress To speed up the aging of the body? Pressure and strain Some new situations clearly point out that the loss of telomere will be deeply affected by the pressure Under the same conditions, the pressure will indeed accelerate the loss of telomere and the cell clock in the body Importantly, the type of pressure is also very important So far, the most serious negative effects are pathogen infection, competition for resources and A lot of investment has been made in breeding Stress sources such as bad diet, human disturbance or urban life can also accelerate cell aging (albeit to a lesser extent) It's a natural question that is becoming more and more radical What makes the pressure have such an impact on the cell clock? Is it a single mechanism? Or multiple mechanisms? Now researchers have identified a possible mechanism, oxidative stress When cells are under pressure, they usually show the accumulation of oxidation molecules, such as free radicals Telomeres at the end of chromosomes may be the targets of chemical reactive molecules The researchers' analysis shows that no matter what type of stress is experienced, this oxidative stress may be the actual biochemical process of connection pressure and telomere loss As for whether this means that we should take more antioxidants to protect telomere, it may need more research later by researchers to prove So does this mean that we have discovered the secret of aging? Can we use existing knowledge to delay or stop aging? The simplest answer is: no! Aging is the basic characteristic of biology We can not completely inhibit or even stop this process, but we can effectively slow down the aging of the body by reducing the pressure In today's society, it is difficult for us to completely get rid of the pressure, but we can make many decisions to reduce the pressure, such as enough sleep, more water, healthy diet, don't let our peptides, etc., to maintain a good life State may be a good medicine to slow down the aging of the body Reference materials: [1] Marion chatelain, Szymon M drobniak, Marta szulkin The association between strengths and hotels in non ‐ human vertebrates: a meta ‐ analysis, ecology letters 27 November 2019 doi: 10.1111/ele.13426 [2] telecomre [3] m Asghar, D hasselquist, B Hansson, et al Hidden costs of infection: Chronic malaria accelerates telomere degradation and senescence in wild birds ， Science   23 Jan 2015： Vol 347， Issue 6220， pp 436-438 doi：10.1126/science.1261121 【4】 Experimentally increased reproductive effort alters telomere length in the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) 【5】 Antioxidant benefits of sleep 【6】Jaouad Bouayed，Hassan Rammal，Rachid Soulimani Oxidative stress and anxiety—Relationship and cellular pathways ， Oxid Med Cell Longev 2009 Apr-Jun； 2(2)： 63–67 doi： 10.4161/oxim.2.2.7944 【7】 Tick， tock： How stress speeds up your chromosomes' aging clock by Szymek Drobniak， The Conversation