Researchers Discover New Cellular Mechanism That Regulates Ageing And Fertility

A key quality control mechanism has been identified by researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH). This process protects the integrity and functionality of the nucleus in cells. The study, which was published in Nature Aging, discovered that autophagy, the process by which cells recycle their nuclear material, prevents somatic cells from ageing and maintains the immortality of germ cells, which are needed for reproduction.

Longevity.

Technology: The genetic material that defines cellular identity and function is located in the nucleus of a cell. Cellular homeostasis, the balance required for cells and organisms to live and operate properly, depends on the preservation of the nucleus’ structure and the recycling of damaged or faulty material.

 

 

The nucleus’ structure changes substantially as we age, and progeria and many other illnesses linked to ageing frequently share this architecture-deterioration trait. The molecular and cellular reasons behind these alterations, however, are still unknown.

According to this recent study, maintaining nuclear architecture encourages youth and slows ageing, potentially promoting the creation of longer life therapies.

Under the direction of Dr. Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chairman of the Board of FORTH, the IMBB scientists Dr. Margarita-Elena Papandreou and Dr. Georgios Konstantinidis concentrated on nucleophagy, a selective form of autophagy that acts as a quality control system for the nucleus.

 

Ageing and Nucleophagy are Related

The researchers tested whether nucleophagy and the preservation of nuclear structure and function during ageing were related using tests on nematodes (Caenorhabditis elegans) and mice. They also looked at how dietary restriction and insulin/IGF1 signalling, two well-known lifespan regulators, interact with the molecular changes the ageing nucleus undergoes.

According to the study, nucleophagy is a molecular mechanism that integrates many physiological signals to affect nuclear architecture and homeostasis. A further downstream effector of low insulin/IGF1 signalling and dietary restriction on somatic ageing was found by the researchers as nucleophagy. They also discovered that a disruption in nucleophagy, the process of recycling nuclear material, reduces animal longevity and causes increasing germline death.

 

Nucleophagy is therefore “an key soma longevity and germline immortality mechanism that maintains youthfulness and delays ageing under conditions of stress, by conserving nuclear architecture and inhibiting nucleolar growth,” according to the researchers.

Humans Should Have Comparable Pathways

According to the researchers, comparable processes may similarly control ageing in humans due to evolutionary conservation and the ubiquitous expression of the regulatory elements involved.

 

 

Soma mortality and germline immortality are two fundamental biological phenomena that are diametrically opposed, and this duality has always fascinated scientists, according to Prof. Tavernarakis. We were sufficiently motivated to start a research trip in order to answer such concerns by the possibility of revealing the molecular causes of this pronounced unique nature of cell types within a single organism.

We made the decision to concentrate on nuclear morphology, which degrades with ageing in somatic cells. In contrast, the germline maintains the nucleus’ overall design. According to our theory, the soma’s homeostatic system deteriorates with age but the germ cell nuclei’s homeostatic system remains efficient.

“We were astonished to discover the significance of autophagic recycling of nuclear material in maintaining nuclear architecture and limiting nucleolar growth. Nucleophagy, it turns out, interacts with nodal, pro-longevity signal transduction pathways, emphasising the intricate interactions between the molecular processes that affect ageing.”