Scientists have found that as we age, the coordination of essential cellular functions declines.
In our cells, the regulation of genes — specifically when certain proteins are produced for various cellular activities — is tightly controlled. It’s been previously thought that this regulation weakens with age, but the specific changes in individual processes and their coordination with one another remained unclear until now.
A team led by Professor Dr. Andreas Beyer from the University of Cologne’s CECAD Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research has utilized a mathematical model to reveal that the regulation of genes specific to the same cellular process remains relatively stable throughout a person’s life. However, they discovered that the coordination among different cellular processes becomes increasingly ineffective. Their findings were published in a study titled ‘Loss of coordination between basic cellular processes in human aging’ in Nature Aging.
The researchers looked into the age-related alterations in gene regulation by analyzing eight distinct human tissue samples spanning ages 20 to 80, incorporating thousands of data sets from three different databases. By applying their model to this large dataset, they examined how the gene regulation network evolves with aging. They were surprised to find that control over most genes does not significantly decline as time passes. “These results highlight the necessity to not only analyze individual genes and their role in aging but also to take a broader view of the interactions and communication among different cellular processes,” remarked first author Dr. Ana Carolina Leote.
Professor Beyer concluded, “Aging influences the entire cell. To fully grasp these changes, we must evaluate all genes collectively using computational models with extensive data sets.” The team’s next goal is to develop similar models for the proteins coded by these genes, a much more intricate task since multiple proteins can be produced from a single gene.
