Aging Flashcards
Why is life span a trade-off between cell growth and cell maintenance?
A longer life span means more maintenance is needed, and there isn’t much growth. And quick growth means less maintenance and a shorter life span
Why isn’t longevity an adaptive trait?
An organism that lives forever would keep using resources, and the older generation needs to die so that the new generation has access to the resources and can maintain the population
What is Hutchinson-Gilford progeria?
A condition caused by a mutation in a nuclear pore protein that causes rapid aging and cell death
What is Klotho?
An insulin receptor that isn’t as sensitive to insulin and leads to a 30% longer life
What are the two things that is absolutely crucial for a long life span?
DNA repair and cell cycle regulation
What are sirtuin genes?
Enzymes that regulate access to chromosomes
What do insulin and insulin-like growth factors do in terms of life span?
They promote cell growth and work against cell maintenance
How do insulin and insulin-like growth factors promote cell growth?
They inhibit Forkhead transcription factors, which transcribe genes involved in maintenance
How does diet affect insulin-like growth factors?
Increases the amount of IGFs
What are 3 environmental influences on aging?
Methylation and DNA stability (epigenetic drift)
Oxidative damage
Diet and exercise
