Growth hormone signaling is necessary for lifespan extension by dietary methionine

Growth hormone significantly impacts lifespan in mammals. Mouse longevity is extended when growth hormone (GH) signaling is interrupted but markedly shortened with high‐plasma hormone levels. Methionine metabolism is enhanced in growth hormone deficiency, for example, in the Ames dwarf, but suppressed in GH transgenic mice. Methionine intake affects also lifespan, and thus, GH mutant mice and respective wild‐type littermates were fed 0.16%, 0.43%, or 1.3% methionine to evaluate the interaction between hormone status and methionine. All wild‐type and GH transgenic mice lived longer when fed 0.16% methionine but not when fed higher levels. In contrast, animals without growth hormone signaling due to hormone deficiency or resistance did not respond to altered levels of methionine in terms of lifespan, body weight, or food consumption. Taken together, our results suggest that the presence of growth hormone is necessary to sense dietary methionine changes, thus strongly linking growth and lifespan to amino acid availability.     

酵母PMT1与PMT5双基因缺失对细胞复制性寿命的影响

为研究蛋白质O-甘露糖转移酶-1(Protein O-mannosyltransferase-1,Pmt1p)与Pmt5p基因对酵母细胞寿命的影响,采用一步基因置换法构建PMT5基因缺失菌株(pmt5Δ),在此基础上,缺失PMT1基因,构建PMT1和PMT5双基因缺失菌株(pmt1Δpmt5Δ)。显微镜下分离和计数酵母子细胞的数目,统计菌株的复制性寿命;检测细胞吸光度值来评价细胞分裂增殖速度。结果发现,与对照组酵母细胞的平均复制性寿命(25代)比较,pmt5Δ菌株(26代)的寿命无明显变化(P 0. 05),而pmt1Δpmt5Δ菌株(21代)的寿命明显缩短(P 0. 01);热量限制条件下,与对照组酵母细胞比较,pmt5Δ菌株的生长曲线无明显变化,而pmt1Δpmt5Δ菌株的生长曲线低平,细胞分裂增殖减慢。结果表明,PMT1与PMT5双基因缺失明显缩短酵母细胞的寿命,机制可能与细胞的增殖活力下降有关。     

Short-Term,Intermittent Fasting Induces Long-Lasting Gut Health and TOR-Independent Lifespan Extension

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An Ultralong Lifespan and Low‐Temperature Workable Sodium‐Ion Full Battery for Stationary Energy Storage

Presently, commercialization of sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) is still hindered by the relatively poor energy‐storage performance. In addition, low‐temperature (low‐T) Na storage is another principal concern for the wide application of SIBs. Unfortunately, the Na‐transfer kinetics is extremely sluggish at low‐T, as a result, there are few reports on low‐T SIBs. Here, an advanced low‐T sodium‐ion full battery (SIFB) assembled by an anode of 3D Se/graphene composite and a high‐voltage cathode (Na₃V₂(PO₄)₂O₂F) is developed, exhibiting ultralong lifespan (over even 15 000 cycles, the capacity retention is still up to 86.3% at 1 A g^?1), outstanding low‐T energy storage performance (e.g., all values of capacity retention are >75% after 1000 cycles at temperatures from 25 to ?25 °C at 0.4 A g^?1), and high‐energy/power properties. Such ultralong lifespan signifies that the developed sodium‐ion full battery can be used for longer than 60 years, if batteries charge/discharge once a day and 80% capacity retention is the standard of battery life. As a result, the present study not only promotes the practicability and commercialization of SIBs but also points out the new developing directions of next‐generation energy storage for wider range applications.     

Climatic and ecological determinants of leaf lifespan in polar forests of the high CO2 Cretaceous 'greenhouse' world

Polar forests once extended across the high‐latitude landmasses during ice‐free ‘greenhouse’ intervals in Earth history. In the Cretaceous ‘greenhouse’ world, Arctic conifer forests were considered predominantly deciduous, while those on Antarctica contained a significantly greater proportion of evergreens. To investigate the causes of this distinctive biogeographical pattern, we developed a coupled model of conifer growth, soil biogeochemistry and forest dynamics. Our approach emphasized general relationships between leaf lifespan (LL) and function, and incorporated the feedback of LL on soil nutrient status. The model was forced with a mid‐Cretaceous ‘greenhouse’ climate simulated by the Hadley Centre GCM. Simulated polar forests contained mixtures of dominant LLs, which reproduced observed biogeographical patterns of deciduous, mixed and evergreen biomes. It emerged that disturbance by fire was a critical factor. Frequent fires in simulated Arctic ecosystems promoted the dominance of trees with short LLs that were characterized by the rapid growth and colonization rates typical of today's boreal pioneer species. In Antarctica, however, infrequent fires allowed trees with longer LLs to dominate because they attained greater height, despite slower growth rates. A direct test of the approach was successfully achieved by comparing modelled LLs with quantitative estimates using Cretaceous fossil woods from Svalbard in the European Arctic and Alexander Island, Antarctica. Observations and the model both revealed mixed Arctic and evergreen Antarctic communities with peak dominance of trees with the same LLs. Our study represents a significant departure from the long‐held belief that leaf habit was an adaptation to warm, dark winter climates, and highlights a previously unrecognized role for disturbance (in whatever guise) in polar forest ecology.     

Age‐specific reproduction and disposable soma in an urban population of Common Blackbirds Turdus merula

The mechanism of senescence is an important subject of current research, but our knowledge of the factors influencing the rate of ageing in naturally occurring populations remains rudimentary. Evolutionary theories of senescence predict that investment in reproduction in early life should come at the cost of reduced somatic maintenance and thus result in earlier or more rapid senescence. We use data on the complete reproductive histories of 431 Common Blackbirds (222 males and 209 females) collected during a 19‐year study of the ecology of an urban population of this species to test the main hypotheses addressing the issue of senescence. On average, the birds in this population survived for 3.7 (± 1.9 sd) years. Reproductive success in females peaked at the age of 4, but in males remained stable until the 5th year of life. We observed declines in reproductive success, indicative of senescence, after the peak years in both sexes. The mechanism of age‐related changes in the reproduction of females confirms the individual improvement and selective disappearance hypotheses. In the case of males, the increase in reproductive performance comes as a consequence of the disappearance of poor reproducers. The parental investment associated with early life fecundity (the first two breeding seasons in males and females) impairs the breeding success of females later on. Contrary to expectations, there was no negative impact of high early life fecundity on either mortality or lifespan. Individuals of both sexes with a high early life fecundity had a higher lifetime reproductive success than those in which early life fecundity was low. Hence, the most profitable strategy is to maximize reproductive effort in the early stages of life. This yields the highest lifetime reproductive success, despite the increased impact of senescence, especially in females. These results are consistent with the disposable soma hypothesis.     

Reevaluation of the effect of dietary restriction on different recombinant inbred lines of male and female mice

Dietary restriction (DR) was reported to either have no effect or reduce the lifespan of the majority of the 41‐recombinant inbred (RI) lines studied by Liao et al. (Aging Cell, 2010, 9, 92). In an appropriately power longevity study (n > 30 mice/group), we measured the lifespan of the four RI lines (115‐RI, 97‐RI, 98‐RI, and 107‐RI) that were reported to have the greatest decrease in lifespan when fed 40% DR. DR increased the median lifespan of female RI‐115, 97‐RI, and 107‐RI mice and male 115‐RI mice. DR had little effect (<4%) on the median lifespan of female and male 98‐RI mice and male 97‐RI mice and reduced the lifespan of male 107‐RI mice over 20%. While our study was unable to replicate the effect of DR on the lifespan of the RI mice (except male 107‐RI mice) reported by Liao et al. (Aging Cell, 2010, 9, 92), we found that the genotype of a mouse had a major impact on the effect of DR on lifespan, with the effect of DR ranging from a 50% increase to a 22% decrease in median lifespan. No correlation was observed between the changes in either body composition or glucose tolerance induced by DR and the changes observed in lifespan of the four RI lines of male and female mice. These four RI lines of mice give the research community a unique resource where investigators for the first time can study the anti‐aging mechanism of DR by comparing mice in which DR increases lifespan to mice where DR has either no effect or reduces lifespan.