ELOVL2 Upregulation Reverses Age-Related Decline in Vision Loss in Mice

In today's open access research materials, the authors report that upregulation of the gene expression of an identified marker of aging, ELOVL2, can improve visual function in aging mice. Normally, expression of ELOVL2 declines with age, and consequent effects on visual function may involve the role of ELOVL2 in production of long-chain omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated acids. These metabolites are in high demand in retinal cells, and lowered levels may well cause a sizable fraction of age-related dysfunction. Any discussion of this change in ELOVL2 expression and visual function is interesting in the context of why degenerative aging takes place. It is clearly the case that considerable dysregulation of cellular metabolism takes place with age. The proximate cause of this degeneration of function is changes in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression, the pace of production of various proteins essential to cell function. In near all cases it is quite obscure as to why exactly these epigenetic changes take place - researchers are far more interested in identifying changes than in the much more arduous work of understanding the full context of any given change. The underlying damage of aging is well catalogued, such as in the SENS view of aging, but linking this damage through a long chain of downstream consequences to specific age-related functional consequences is a sizable project, still in its very earliest stages. Researchers Identify Gene with Functio...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs