Metabolomics Data From Centenarians Permalink | View Comments (0) | Post Comment | Share | Posted by Reason Researchers continue their investigations into the biochemical differences between extremely long-lived individuals and the rest of us:Quote:In the present study we have expanded our previous investigation on metabolic signatures of longevity by integrating a system biology approach in serum on a representative North Italian cohort of aged subjects, compromising elderly and centenarians. Data on centenarians in particular are of interest, as they are considered the best example of successful aging having reached the very extremes of the human lifespan. It is worth noting that the metabolic signatures described in this paper reflect mostly female individuals, as male centenarians are much more rare than female ones, and in particular in the north of Italy the male/female ratio is about 1:7.By combining NMR metabonomics and shot-gun lipidomics in serum we analyzed metabolome and lipidome composition of a group of centenarians with respect to elderly individuals. Specifically, NMR metabonomics profiling of serum revealed that centenarians are characterized by a metabolic phenotype distinct from that of elderly subjects, in particular regarding amino acids and lipid species. Shot- gun lipidomics approach displays unique changes in lipids biosynthesis in centenarians, with 41 differently abundant lipid species with respect to elderly subjects. These findings reveal phospho/sphingolipids as putative markers and biological modulators of healthy aging, in humans. The represented changes reflect that longevity is marked by better antioxidant capacity and a well-developed membrane lipid remodelling process able to maintain cell integrity. Moreover, in the light of very recent data indicating glycerophosphocholine as a circulating marker related to cell senescence, our data are suggestive of the fact that centenarians are characterised by lower levels of cell senescence with respect to old subjects. As a whole, these data support the hypothesis that from a metabolic point of view centenarians are younger than their chronological age.Link: http://www.impactaging.com/papers/v6/n1/full/100630.html Suggesting that Mitochondrial DNA Damage Doesn't Result From Oxidative Stress Mitochondria are the power plants of the cell: they produce chemical energy stores and participate in an important way in numerous other vital cellular processes. Mitochondria contain their own DNA, left over from their past existence as symbiotic bacteria, and damage to this mitochondrial DNA is a contributing cause of aging. The conventional view is that this damage arises when the reactive oxygen species produced by mitochondria in the course of their normal operation react with the nearby DNA. This is supported by a wide range of evidence, such as the fact that antioxidants targeted to mitochondria extend life.These researchers offer evidence in support of another view - that oxidative stress doesn't matter, and the damage that contributes to aging occurs during mitochondrial replication. This view leaves numerous open questions, such as what is happening to extend life via targeted antioxidants:Quote:Mitochondria are the evolutionary remnants of bacteria that were acquired by the cells of our ancestors more than a billion years ago and now produce virtually all of the cellular energy. Due to their bacterial ancestry, mitochondria have their own genomes, which encode some of the machinery