IBA researchers identified a new pathway linking cellular senescence to vascular disease

Availability of methionine is known to modulate the rate of aging in model organisms, best illustrated by the observation that dietary methionine restriction extends the lifespan of rodents. However, the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. In eukaryotic cells, methionine can be converted to cysteine through the reverse transsulfuration pathway thereby modulating intracellular methionine availability. Whereas previous results obtained in yeast and fruit flies suggest that alterations in the reverse transsulfuration pathway modulate the rate of aging, it is not known whether this function is conserved in evolution. Researchers of the Jansen-Dürr group found that depletion of cystathionine beta synthase (CBS), a rate limiting enzyme in the reverse transsulfuration pathway, induces premature senescence in human endothelial cells. CBS depletion was found to induce mild mitochondrial dysfunction and increases the sensitivity of endothelial cells to homocysteine, a known inducer of endothelial cell senescence and an established risk factor for vascular disease. Our finding that CBS deficiency induces endothelial cell senescencein vitro suggests a new mechanism linking CBS deficiency to vascular aging and disease.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23117410

Nach oben scrollen