综述: 衰老及相关疾病细胞分子机制研究进展

人类及其他生物随时间推移逐渐发生细胞功能丧失,即细胞衰老.这个过程如突显在某个组织器官,则可引起这个组织和器官的衰老性疾病.然而,最近的研究表明,哺乳动物在出生之前胚胎发育的生理条件下,即已经出现细胞和组织的复制性衰老现象.机制研究显示多种分子从细胞(核)内外引起生理性和应激性细胞复制性衰老.而自然界中某些生物随时间推移生命力增强、并不发生衰老.这些现象的分子机制,还有如发生在脑及代谢性疾病中的非复制性细胞衰老等,都还是个谜.本文就近期衰老的机制、细胞衰老的类型以及某些衰老相关疾病的分子基础的最新研究进展做一个扼要综述.论文包含以下几个部分:a.细胞衰老的定义、分类和机制;b.生理性衰老:发育中程序化衰老;c.内环境稳态与组织器官衰老;d.一型细胞复制性衰老及相关疾病:端粒长度与预测衰老及肿瘤预后、特发性肺纤维化、高血压;e.二型非复制性细胞衰老及相关疾病:帕金森病、糖尿病;f.衰老与长寿的物种多样性.     

衰老及相关疾病细胞分子机制研究进展

人类及其他生物随时间推移逐渐发生细胞功能丧失,即细胞衰老.这个过程如突显在某个组织器官,则可引起这个组织和器官的衰老性疾病.然而,最近的研究表明,哺乳动物在出生之前胚胎发育的生理条件下,即已经出现细胞和组织的复制性衰老现象.机制研究显示多种分子从细胞(核)内外引起生理性和应激性细胞复制性衰老.而自然界中某些生物随时间推移生命力增强、并不发生衰老.这些现象的分子机制,还有如发生在脑及代谢性疾病中的非复制性细胞衰老等,都还是个谜.本文就近期衰老的机制、细胞衰老的类型以及某些衰老相关疾病的分子基础的最新研究进展做一个扼要综述.论文包含以下几个部分:a.细胞衰老的定义、分类和机制;b.生理性衰老:发育中程序化衰老;c.内环境稳态与组织器官衰老;d.一型细胞复制性衰老及相关疾病:端粒长度与预测衰老及肿瘤预后、特发性肺纤维化、高血压;e.二型非复制性细胞衰老及相关疾病:帕金森病、糖尿病;f.衰老与长寿的物种多样性.     

巨噬细胞移动抑制因子调控细胞衰老的研究进展

巨噬细胞移动抑制因子(macrophage migration inhibitory factor, MIF)是一种可被多种细胞表达的多效性细胞因子,对细胞的多种生物学功能发挥调控作用,包括细胞的增殖、分化、存活和凋亡,近期研究发现MIF与细胞衰老相关。为了进一步认识衰老的机制,对MIF与细胞衰老相关的研究进展作了总结,重点分析了MIF调控细胞衰老的机制,MIF调控衰老相关基因表达的机制,尤其是在缺氧和氧化应激条件下MIF调控衰老的机制,并分析了在MIF功能多态性背景下其对衰老相关疾病的复杂调控机制,最后介绍了MIF及其受体的生物工程产品开发和应用,为进一步研究MIF调控细胞衰老的机制奠定基础。     

细胞衰老信号通路中NF-κB作用的研究进展CSCD

生物体衰老是一个非常复杂的过程。研究发现核转录因子(NF-κB)在细胞衰老中具有重要作用,对于细胞衰老的研究具有重要意义。本文综述了近几年来NF-κB与细胞衰老的相关研究,包括NF-κB作用机制、衰老相关信号通路与NF-κB的串流(crosstalk),深入探讨NF-κB与衰老的关系可为阐明衰老的分子机制及延缓衰老提供新的思路。     

细胞衰老信号通路中NF-κB作用的研究进展

生物体衰老是一个非常复杂的过程。研究发现核转录因子(NF-κB)在细胞衰老中具有重要作用,对于细胞衰老的研究具有重要意义。本文综述了近几年来NF-κB与细胞衰老的相关研究,包括NF-κB作用机制、衰老相关信号通路与NF-κB的串流(crosstalk),深入探讨NF-κB与衰老的关系可为阐明衰老的分子机制及延缓衰老提供新的思路。     

细胞衰老与老龄化疾病

随着人口老龄化加剧,细胞衰老的生物学基础及其相关分子机制的研究已成为一个重要的研究方向。细胞衰老是多种因素引起的细胞周期永久性阻滞,与老化疾病如糖尿病、骨质疏松、动脉粥样硬化、神经退行性疾病等有关。现介绍细胞衰老及细胞衰老与年龄相关疾病的分子生物学机制,重点介绍衰老领域的最新研究进展:清除衰老细胞能改善或延缓老龄化疾病,延长机体寿命。     

miRNAs与衰老相关信号通路的研究进展

miRNAs是一类负调控基因表达的内源性非编码小分子RNA,在细胞衰老过程中发挥重要作用. 细胞衰老是指可增殖细胞在各种应激下出现细胞周期阻滞,并且丧失增殖能力,进入一种不可逆的、相对稳定的状态. p53、p21、p16、SIRT1、胰岛素/IGF-1及mTOR等蛋白是衰老相关信号通路中的重要分子,参与细胞衰老过程. 研究表明,miRNAs可以通过调控这些衰老相关蛋白所在的信号通路,促进或延缓细胞衰老. 本文综述细胞衰老相关的miRNAs,以及它们对衰老相关信号通路的影响,为深化认识衰老和衰老相关疾病的分子机制奠定基础.     

细胞衰老与2型糖尿病的相关性研究进展

2型糖尿病是目前公认的与衰老相关的重大疾病之一,发病年龄多在50岁以上。细胞衰老是指细胞应激致细胞产生不可逆的永久性细胞周期停滞的状态,是机体衰老的基础。细胞衰老与2型糖尿病的关系相当复杂,衰老的胰岛β细胞在组织内累积引起β细胞功能障碍、脂肪细胞衰老导致脂质代谢障碍等等,衰老的细胞还可间接通过衰老相关分泌表型使个体处于慢性低水平炎症状态,引起2型糖尿病及其并发症;反过来,糖尿病的高血糖、炎症微环境及脂毒性等能够促使细胞衰老并进一步累积。细胞衰老可能既是2型糖尿病发生的原因,又是其发展的结果。靶向细胞衰老的疗法可能为2型糖尿病提供新的治疗策略,现就细胞衰老在2型糖尿病的发生发展中的作用研究进展做一简要综述。     

细胞衰老与癌症治疗

细胞衰老是生物界普遍存在的现象。肿瘤细胞是一类摆脱细胞周期束缚,突破Hayflick界限,能够无限增殖而不衰老的细胞。癌症是一种与细胞衰老密切相关的疾病。从进化的角度来看,衰老对于生物体是有益的,可以导致细胞不可逆的周期阻滞,被认为是一种自主的肿瘤抑制机制。在恶性增殖的癌细胞中,在胞外及胞内多种刺激下,如端粒缩短、DNA损伤、氧化应激以及化疗药物的处理等,都会出现细胞周期阻滞,生长迟缓等细胞衰老现象。诱导肿瘤细胞衰老也被认为是一种治疗癌症的有效手段。衰老细胞可以向胞外分泌数十种因子,维持细胞自身衰老表型,并影响周围细胞的生长,这种特性被称为衰老相关的分泌表型(SASP)。本文详细综述细胞衰老的形态学特征与分子标记物及检测方法,细胞衰老的信号调控通路（p53-p21,p16-pRB和PTEN-p27）,以及细胞衰老与恶性肿瘤发生发展的关系等。尤其是应激压力诱导下的细胞衰老在癌症治疗中的潜在作用,并进一步讨论当下流行的促衰老癌症治疗的靶点与药物以及存在的问题,以期为今后的研究提供新思路和新方向。     

细胞衰老与癌症治疗

细胞衰老是生物界普遍存在的现象。肿瘤细胞是一类摆脱细胞周期束缚,突破Hayflick界限,能够无限增殖而不衰老的细胞。癌症是一种与细胞衰老密切相关的疾病。从进化的角度来看,衰老对于生物体是有益的,可以导致细胞不可逆的周期阻滞,被认为是一种自主的肿瘤抑制机制。在恶性增殖的癌细胞中,在胞外及胞内多种刺激下,如端粒缩短、DNA损伤、氧化应激以及化疗药物的处理等,都会出现细胞周期阻滞,生长迟缓等细胞衰老现象。诱导肿瘤细胞衰老也被认为是一种治疗癌症的有效手段。衰老细胞可以向胞外分泌数十种因子,维持细胞自身衰老表型,并影响周围细胞的生长,这种特性被称为衰老相关的分泌表型(SASP)。本文详细综述细胞衰老的形态学特征与分子标记物及检测方法,细胞衰老的信号调控通路（p53-p21,p16-pRB和PTEN-p27）,以及细胞衰老与恶性肿瘤发生发展的关系等。尤其是应激压力诱导下的细胞衰老在癌症治疗中的潜在作用,并进一步讨论当下流行的促衰老癌症治疗的靶点与药物以及存在的问题,以期为今后的研究提供新思路和新方向。     

酿酒酵母衰老机制研究进展

酿酒酵母衰老机制的研究对解析高等真核生物衰老的分子机制具有重要意义。酿酒酵母有两种衰老形式：时序衰老（chronologicalaging）和复制衰老（replicative aging）。酿酒酵母衰老研究中通常使用的寿命定义有两种：世代寿命和时序寿命。前者是指单个酿酒酵母细胞在死亡之前的分裂次数;后者是指一定数量的酵母细胞在后二次生长和稳定期的存活时间。本文分别综述了这两种衰老形式的分子机制及两者的相同点和不同点。     

Heat shock proteins and aging in Drosophila melanogaster

Heat shock proteins (Hsps) are conserved molecular chaperones that are upregulated following exposure to environmental stress and during aging. The mechanisms underlying the aging process are only beginning to be understood. The beneficial effects of Hsps on aging revealed in mild stress and overexpression experiments suggest that these proteins are part of an important cell protection system rather than being unspecific molecular chaperones. Among the Hsps families, small Hsps have the greatest influence on aging and the modulation of their expression during aging in Drosophila suggest that they are involved in pathways of longevity determination.     

Molecular phenotyping of aging in single yeast cells using a novel microfluidic device

Budding yeast has served as an important model organism for aging research, and previous genetic studies have led to the discovery of conserved genes/pathways that regulate lifespan across species. However, the molecular causes of aging and death remain elusive, because it is very difficult to directly observe the cellular and molecular events accompanying aging in single yeast cells by the traditional approach based on micromanipulation. We have developed a microfluidic system to track individual mother cells throughout their lifespan, allowing automated lifespan measurement and direct observation of cell cycle dynamics, cell/organelle morphologies, and various molecular markers. We found that aging of the wild-type cells is characterized by an increased general stress and a progressive lengthening of the cell cycle for the last few cell divisions; these features are much less apparent in the long-lived FOB1 deletion mutant. Following the fate of individual cells revealed that there are different forms of cell death that are characterized by different terminal cell morphologies, and associated with different levels of stress and lifespan. We have identified a molecular marker - the level of the expression of Hsp104, as a good predictor for the lifespan of individual cells. Our approach allows detailed molecular phenotyping of single cells in the process of aging and thus provides new insight into its mechanism.     

Aging and death in an organism that reproduces by morphologically symmetric division

In macroscopic organisms, aging is often obvious; in single-celled organisms, where there is the greatest potential to identify the molecular mechanisms involved, identifying and quantifying aging is harder. The primary results in this area have come from organisms that share the traits of a visibly asymmetric division and an identifiable juvenile phase. As reproductive aging must require a differential distribution of aged and young components between parent and offspring, it has been postulated that organisms without these traits do not age, thus exhibiting functional immortality. Through automated time-lapse microscopy, we followed repeated cycles of reproduction by individual cells of the model organism Escherichia coli, which reproduces without a juvenile phase and with an apparently symmetric division. We show that the cell that inherits the old pole exhibits a diminished growth rate, decreased offspring production, and an increased incidence of death. We conclude that the two supposedly identical cells produced during cell division are functionally asymmetric; the old pole cell should be considered an aging parent repeatedly producing rejuvenated offspring. These results suggest that no life strategy is immune to the effects of aging, and therefore immortality may be either too costly or mechanistically impossible in natural organisms.     

Regulation of aging and innate immunity in C. elegans

The free-living soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a versatile model for the study of the genetic regulation of aging and of host-pathogen interactions. Many genes affecting multiple processes, such as neuroendocrine signalling, nutritional sensing and mitochondrial functions, have been shown to play important roles in determining the lifespan of C. elegans. The DAF-2-mediated insulin signalling pathway is the major pathway that regulates aging in this nematode and this role appears universal; neuroendrocrine signalling also affects aging in Drosophila and mice. Recent studies have shown that the innate immune function in C. elegans is modulated by signalling from the TGF-beta-like, the p38 MAPK and the DAF-2 insulin pathways. The requirement for the DAF-2 pathway in modulating aging and immunity suggests that these processes may be linked at the molecular level. It is well known that as humans age, immunosenescence occurs in which there is a general degradation of immune efficiency. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in this process remain unclear. In this review, we discuss the molecular mechanisms that modulate aging and immune response and attempt to suggest molecular links between these two processes.     

Endothelial cell senescence in aging-related vascular dysfunction

Increased cardiovascular disease in aging is partly a consequence of the vascular endothelial cell (EC) senescence and associated vascular dysfunction. In this contest, EC senescence is a pathophysiological process of structural and functional changes including dysregulation of vascular tone, increased endothelium permeability, arterial stiffness, impairment of angiogenesis and vascular repair, and a reduction of EC mitochondrial biogenesis. Dysregulation of cell cycle, oxidative stress, altered calcium signaling, hyperuricemia, and vascular inflammation have been implicated in the development and progression of EC senescence and vascular disease in aging. A number of abnormal molecular pathways are associated with these underlying pathophysiological changes including Sirtuin 1, Klotho, fibroblast growth factor 21, and activation of the renin angiotensin-aldosterone system. However, the molecular mechanisms of EC senescence and associated vascular impairment in aging are not completely understood. This review provides a contemporary update on molecular mechanisms, pathophysiological events, as well functional changes in EC senescence and age-associated cardiovascular disease. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Genetic and epigenetic regulation of aging and longevity edited by Jun Ren & Megan Yingmei Zhang.     

Dynamics of the male germline stem cell population during aging of Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as an important model system for the study of both stem cell biology and aging. Much is known about how molecular signals from the somatic niche regulate adult stem cells in the germline, and a variety of environmental factors as well as single point mutations have been shown to affect lifespan. Relatively little is known, however, about how aging affects specific populations of cells, particularly adult stem cells that may be susceptible to aging-related damage. Here we show that male germline stem cells (GSCs) are lost from the stem cell niche during aging, but are efficiently replaced to maintain overall stem cell number. We also find that the division rate of GSCs slows significantly during aging, and that this slowing correlates with a reduction in the number of somatic hub cells that contribute to the stem cell niche. Interestingly, slowing of stem cell division rate was not observed in long-lived methuselah mutant flies. We finally investigated whether two mechanisms that are thought to be used in other adult stem cell types to minimize the effects of aging were operative in this system. First, in many adult tissues stem cells exhibit markedly fewer cell cycles relative to transit-amplifying cells, presumably protecting the stem cell pool from replication-associated damage. Second, at any given time not all stem cells actively cycle, leading to 'clonal succession' from the reserve pool of initially quiescent stem cells. We find that neither of these mechanisms is used in Drosophila male GSCs.     

Telomere, DNA damage, and oxidative stress in stem cell aging

"Stem cell aging" is a novel concept that developed together with the advances of stem cell biology, especially the sophisticated prospectively isolation and characterization of multipotent somatic tissue stem cells. Although being immortal in principle, stem cells can also undergo aging processes and potentially contribute to organismal aging. The impact of an age-dependent decline of stem cell function weighs differently in organs with high or low rates of cell turnover. Nonetheless, most of the organ systems undergo age-dependent loss of homeostasis and functionality, and emerging evidence showed that this has to do with the aging of resident stem cells in the organ systems. The mechanisms of stem cell aging and its real contribution to human aging remain to be defined. Many antitumor mechanisms protect potential malignant transformation of stem cell by inducing apoptosis or senescence but simultaneously provoke stem cell aging. In this review, we try to discuss several concept of stem cell aging and summarize recent progression on the molecular mechanisms of stem cell aging.     

Dynamic changes of DNA epigenetic marks in mouse oocytes during natural and accelerated aging

Aging is a complex time-dependent biological process that takes place in every cell and organ, eventually leading to degenerative changes that affect normal biological functions. In the past decades, the number of older parents has increased significantly. While it is widely recognized that oocyte aging poses higher birth and reproductive risk, the exact molecular mechanisms remain largely elusive. DNA methylation of 5-cytosine (5mC) and histone modifications are among the key epigenetic mechanisms involved in critical developmental processes and have been linked to aging. However, the impact of oocyte aging on DNA demethylation pathways has not been examined. The recent discovery of Ten-Eleven-Translocation (TET) family proteins, thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) and the demethylation intermediates 5hmC, 5fC and 5caC has provided novel clues to delineate the molecular mechanisms in DNA demethylation. In this study, we examined the cellular level of modified cytosines (5mC, 5hmC, 5fC and 5caC) and Tet/Tdg expression in oocytes obtained from natural and accelerated oocyte aging conditions. Here we show all the DNA demethylation marks are dynamically regulated in both aging conditions, which are associated with Tet3 over-expression and Tdg repression. Such an aberrant expression pattern was more profound in accelerated aging condition. The results suggest that DNA demethylation may be actively involved in oocyte aging and have implications for development of potential drug targets to rejuvenate aging oocytes.This article is part of a Directed Issue entitled: Epigenetics dynamics in development and disease.