Reviewing FOXO Transcription Factors in Aging and Longevity

A number of the large FOX family of proteins, in particular the FOXO proteins, appear to play roles in the complex interaction between metabolism and aging. They are thus targets for investigation and potential intervention in that part of the research community interested in trying to slightly slow aging via pharmacology. The plan there is to alter the operation of cellular metabolism in ways that boost existing mechanisms of repair and maintenance, or slow the pace at which the damage that causes aging is generated. The response to calorie restriction is the best understood of such altered states of metabolism, and investigations of the mechanisms involved in calorie restriction have determined much of the present focus on specific genes and proteins for those interested in developing drugs to modestly slow aging. The past decade suggests that attempting to do this is both hard and expensive; at least a billion spent on sirtuin research, for example, produced no useful results in terms of therapies. Even if further billions produce useful drug candidates, they will still be at best as effective as calorie restriction, and while calorie restricted individuals enjoy health benefits they still age and die on much the same schedule as their unrestricted peers. This isn't the road to rejuvenation. An exciting research area on FOXO transcription factors' impacting on longevity has arisen in recent years. Studies have been conducted to address their upstream regulation, their dow...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs