Anti-Ageing Effect Of Protein Duo

The tumour suppressor protein p53 and one of its regulators, ARF, are known to be involved in the detection and elimination of cellular damage. Manuel Serrano and colleagues now show that mice with an increased, but otherwise normally regulated, dose of the two proteins are resistant to the development of cancers. It comes as no surprise therefore, that these animals have an extended lifespan compared to wild-type mice.

Remarkably, however, on average these animals outlive their normal counterparts even when animals dying of cancer are removed from the survival curves. Moreover, various biological and molecular markers of ageing indicate that these mice stay younger for longer. The researchers conclude that boosting endogenous ARF/p53 activity provides a robust anti-oxidant effect that not only suppresses cancers, but also delays ageing.

CONTACT

Manuel Serrano (Spanish National Cancer Research Center, CNIO, Madrid, Spain)
E-mail: mserrano@cnio.es

(C) Nature press release.

Message posted by: Trevor M. D'Souza