American scientists have found an effective way to slow down aging. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications, reported by the University of California at Los Angeles (USA).
Experts have paid attention to how the size and shape of the mitochondria in fruit flies change over time. In the middle of life (one month after birth), these organelles in Drosophila become large and elongated, which prevents them from performing their functions and, as a result, contributes to aging.
Experts have found a way to increase the lifespan of male fruit flies by 12 percent and 20 percent for females. The Drp1 protein helped biologists in this, the content of which, as the authors noted, decreases over time in flies.
The increase in the Drp1 level led to the fact that the number of large mitochondria began to decrease, and the number of physiologically normal ones began to increase. The Drp1 level increased during the week after Drosophila reached the age of 30 days.
Scientists have also shown that activation of the Atg1 gene leads to the destruction of damaged mitochondria.
“It's like taking middle aged muscle tissue and rejuvenating it,” said co-author David Walker. “We actually delayed the age-related deterioration in health, and seven days of intervention was enough to prolong the life and improve the health of the flies.”
The experimental results, the authors believe, are valid for nematodes, mice and primates. In the future, the authors plan to develop drugs that would reproduce the effect of increasing the level of Drp1 in the body.