The Detailed Progression of Aging is Always More Complex than Previously Suspected

Aging has comparatively simple root causes, forms of cell and tissue damage that accumulate as a side-effect of the normal operation of metabolism. These comparatively simple causes take effect on a very, very complex system, however. The result is an intricate web of interacting consequences, and ultimately a dysfunctional, failing mess in which it is very hard to pinpoint which of the countless observed mechanisms are actually important. The complexity of the outcome is a result of the complexity of a living organism, not of the complexity of the root causes of aging. Metabolism is incompletely understood, and for so long as that is the case, inspecting the progression of aging will continue to reveal new subtleties. This is why interventions should focus on the causes of aging, far better understood at the present time, and not on manipulating later stages of the process, much of which remains a dark forest. Researchers have made a surprising discovery about the connection between protein shape and mitochondrial health, providing a piece of evidence for yet another theme in aging research: it's always more complicated than we thought. Proteins within the mitochondria are intricately involved in mitochondrial function, and are protected by the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt). When proteins misfold in the mitochondria, which can be caused by external threats like pathogens or mitochondrial toxins, the UPRmt gets activated which helps restore protein ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs