Retrotransposon Activity in Neurodegeneration

In recent years, researchers have investigated retrotransposon activity in the context of aging. Retrotransposons, a class of transposable element, are sequences in the genome capable of replication, perhaps archeological debris from the ancient interactions of cells and viruses, co-opted by evolution. Transposable elements are largely suppressed in youth, but the suppression mechanisms become less effective in later life, one of countless cellular mechanisms that runs awry for reasons that are far from fully understood. It is a challenge to connect specific changes in gene expression to specific underlying causes of aging; a cell is a system in which everything interacts with everything else. Cellular metabolism is far from fully mapped at the detail level, even before considering the ways in which metabolism - and the surrounding microenvironment that a cell reacts to - accrues damage and shifts with age. The etiology of aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), still remains elusive and no curative treatment is available. Age is the major risk factor for PD and AD, but the molecular link between aging and neurodegeneration is not fully understood. Aging is defined by several hallmarks, some of which partially overlap with pathways implicated in NDs. Recent evidence suggests that aging-associated epigenetic alterations can lead to the derepression of the LINE-1 (Long Interspersed Element-1) fam...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs