Age-related diseases can be mitigated by blocking the self-destructing process of enzymes
A new study published in Nature Cell Biology suggests that stopping the cannibalistic behavior exhibited by a well-studied protein could lead to the development of new drugs for age-related diseases. Researchers at the Perelman Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania have shown for the first time how autophagy, a self-eating cell process, causes the SIRT1 protein, which has been known to be important in promoting longevity, to gradually degrade in the cells and tissues of mice. Finding an enzyme target can lead to the development of new therapeutics or modifications of existing ones.
Blocking this pathway may be another way to restore SIRT1 levels in patients, and help prevent or treat age-related organ and immunity system decline, said Lu Wang, Ph.D. He is a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of Shelly Berger Ph.D. She is a Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Perelman School of Medical and a Professor of Biology at the School of Arts and Sciences of Penn. Berger is also the senior author of the paper.
Wang said that the findings could be most interesting to those working in the field of immune aging, since autophagy in SIRT1 is a concept which has never been demonstrated before. \”This mechanism offers us a new way to restore immune function.\”
Source:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-blocking-enzyme-self-destruction-mitigate-age-related.html
