Scientists have been able to identify the genes that influence a healthier aging process

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev are leading innovative research on understanding the molecular processes in the aging process and have found genes that can predict healthy aging and help prevent diseases

Dr. Deborah Tober and her team from the Department of Life Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have been vigorously researching the genes central to our aging process in recent years. In their latest study, the researchers identified a limited number of genes that change in pathological aging compared to healthy aging. The researchers also discovered that simple changes in lifespan, For example, building a nutritional menu with caloric restriction, Yu

Reverse the changes in some of these genes. Their findings on the subject were recently published in the journal Aging.

Dr. Tober explains that "one of the main causes of aging is the accumulation of unrepaired damage to DNA, when every cell in the body has to deal with thousands of injuries every day. While most of them are repaired, the biological systems are not perfect and some damage remains that may later lead to degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. This damage affects both the DNA itself and the epigenetic code. In the research, we found a number of genes that can be changed through very simple methods such as caloric restriction."

In their previous studies, the researchers found that the SIRT6 gene plays a central role in DNA damage repair, and is used as the first factor that occurs in the event of a double-stranded DNA break - the most dangerous type of damage to the cell. As the first agent on the scene, he immediately approached the work of repair at the same time as mobilizing proteins and other factors critical to the repair process.

Since aging in general and neurodegenerative diseases in particular are accompanied by a very wide range of changes, the team of university researchers compared mice with a defective SIRT6 gene to young or old mice compared to a normal SIRT6 gene. Thanks to the early knowledge the researchers gained about the gene, they were able to narrow down the list of genes that change in aging and neurodegeneration, to genes that may predict whether a certain brain is moving towards healthy or pathological aging. In addition to this, the researchers were able to determine which of these genes can be used as a candidate for pathological aging treatments - that is, genes whose changes are reversible. In the future, an examination of the changes in these genes will be able to indicate whether we are on the road to healthy aging or not.

"As you get older, you accumulate more DNA damage and repairing it is a necessary condition for longevity. Any clinical intervention that slows down or halts the death of nerve cells will manifest itself in a significant improvement in the quality of life of patients and their families, and this is the goal we see before our eyes in the laboratory," adds Dr. Tober.

The research was carried out by the team of researchers: Daniel Stein, Amir Mizrahi, Adam Saratsky, Dr. Alfredo Garcia Venzor, Zev Slobodnik, Shay Klusky, and Monica Einav from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. In addition: Anastasia Golova, and Dr. Ekaterina Harmayev, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Moscow, Russia.

Dr. Tober heads the Zehava and Hazi Vared Scientific Reserve Chair in Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Disease Research. It is worth noting that the research was supported by the David and Inez Meyers Foundation; grants from the National Science Foundation as well as by a Broad Institute-National Science Foundation grant. , the project received funding from the European Research Council, under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

for the scientific article

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