Mitochondria may hold the key to a reversible form of aging

A breakdown in cellular communication in the cell may be partly responsible for the aging process, report researchers at Harvard University in a new study. In work published in Cell, the researchers also indicate that restoring this communication can reverse aging. Their work hinges on the mitochondria, which are the power plants of the cell and produce its energy. Mitochondria have their own small genomes that are independent from nuclear DNA. The scientists found that, while mitochondrial proteins encoded by nuclear DNA remained normal, proteins from mitochondrial genes deteriorated during aging. The cause of this, the scientists found, was a breakdown of the cascade of communication between mitochondrial proteins. But when the scientists gave mice a compound that could restore functioning of a chemical crucial to this communication cascade, they found that they could reverse many of the signs of aging in muscle cells. Experiments are ongoing to determine what happens to the mouse on the organismal level, and the effects of chronic administration.

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Journal article: Declining NAD+ Induces a Pseudohypoxic State Disrupting Nuclear-Mitochondrial Communication during Aging. Cell, 2013. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.11.037