The mysterious relationship between reproduction and longevity.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Aguilaniu H
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4588167 | biostudies-other | 2015 Apr-Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Similar Datasets
Project description:Air pollution has become a global environmental challenge and poses major threats to human health, particularly for the aging population. However, few studies have investigated the effects of air pollutants on human longevity, especially based on the total regional quantities and sources. Based on investigation of the spatiotemporal variations of three air pollutants (PM10, SO2, and NOx) and three longevity indicators (centenarian ratio, centenarity index, and aging tendency), this study aims to identify the relationship between air pollution and regional longevity in Guangxi Province. Air pollutant and population data from 109 counties and areas of Guangxi were collected from environmental research reports and statistical yearbooks. Cluster and outlier analysis was used to detect the regions with high and low clusters of the longevity indicators and air pollutants. Geographically weighted regression analyses were performed to determine the relationship between longevity and air pollutants. A negative relationship between the air pollutants PM10, SO2, and NOx on the aged population was observed. From a provincial level, industrial sources from the urban areas of cities located in the central province, including Liuzhou, Nanning, Laibing, Guigang and Yulin, were important contributors to the air pollutants PM10, SO2, and NOx, and thus could contribute to negative impacts on regional longevity. The key findings from this study will provide a case for management of air pollutants based on public health policies in China as well as other developing communities.
| S-EPMC6801524 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The relationship between lipid metabolism and longevity remains unclear. Although fat oxidation is essential for weight loss, whether it remains beneficial when sustained for long periods, and the extent to which it may attenuate or augment lifespan remain important unanswered questions. Here, we develop an experimental handle in the Caenorhabditis elegans model system, in which we uncover the mechanisms that connect long-term fat oxidation with longevity. We find that sustained ?-oxidation via activation of the conserved triglyceride lipase ATGL-1, triggers a feedback transcriptional loop that involves the mito-nuclear transcription factor ATFS-1, and a previously unknown and highly conserved repressor of ATGL-1 called HLH-11/AP4. This feedback loop orchestrates the dual control of fat oxidation and lifespan, and shields the organism from life-shortening mitochondrial stress in the face of continuous fat oxidation. Thus, we uncover one mechanism by which fat oxidation can be sustained for long periods without deleterious effects on longevity.
| S-EPMC7575325 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Persistent oxidative stress has been associated with carcinogenesis. Iron overload is considered one such condition that causes oxidative stress. Epidemiological studies support a close link between iron overload and carcinogenesis. Reportedly, regular semiannual phlebotomies reduced cancer risk in an otherwise normal population. More specifically, genetic hemochromatosis, chronic viral hepatitis, ovarian endometriosis and asbestosis induce iron overload, which can lead to hepatocellular carcinoma, ovarian carcinoma or mesothelioma in humans. Through a combination of animal experiments and microarray analyses, homozygous deletion of CDKN2A/2B has been recognized as one of the major target genes involved in iron overload-induced carcinogenesis. CDKN2A/2B are the second most frequently inactivated tumor suppressing genes in human cancers. Currently, when infection is becoming sufficiently controlled worldwide, iron regulation may be the next target for human longevity.
| S-EPMC3022063 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Binary silicon boride SiB3 has been reported to occur in two forms, as disordered and nonstoichiometric ?-SiB3-x , which relates to the ?-rhombohedral phase of boron, and as strictly ordered and stoichiometric ?-SiB3. Similar to other boron-rich icosahedral solids, these SiB3 phases represent potentially interesting refractory materials. However, their thermal stability, formation conditions, and thermodynamic relation are poorly understood. Here, we map the formation conditions of ?-SiB3-x and ?-SiB3 and analyze their relative thermodynamic stabilities. ?-SiB3-x is metastable (with respect to ?-SiB3 and Si), and its formation is kinetically driven. Pure polycrystalline bulk samples may be obtained within hours when heating stoichiometric mixtures of elemental silicon and boron at temperatures 1200-1300 °C. At the same time, ?-SiB3-x decomposes into SiB6 and Si, and optimum time-temperature synthesis conditions represent a trade-off between rates of formation and decomposition. The formation of stable ?-SiB3 was observed after prolonged treatment (days to weeks) of elemental mixtures with ratios Si/B = 1:1-1:4 at temperatures 1175-1200 °C. The application of high pressures greatly improves the kinetics of SiB3 formation and allows decoupling of SiB3 formation from decomposition. Quantitative formation of ?-SiB3 was seen at 1100 °C for samples pressurized to 5.5-8 GPa. ?-SiB3 decomposes peritectoidally at temperatures between 1250 and 1300 °C. The highly ordered nature of ?-SiB3 is reflected in its Raman spectrum, which features narrow and distinct lines. In contrast, the Raman spectrum of ?-SiB3-x is characterized by broad bands, which show a clear relation to the vibrational modes of isostructural, ordered B6P. The detailed composition and structural properties of disordered ?-SiB3-x were ascertained by a combination of single-crystal X-ray diffraction and 29Si magic angle spinning NMR experiments. Notably, the compositions of polycrystalline bulk samples (obtained at T ? 1200 °C) and single crystal samples (obtained from Si-rich molten Si-B mixtures at T > 1400 °C) are different, SiB2.93(7) and SiB2.64(2), respectively. The incorporation of Si in the polar position of B12 icosahedra results in highly strained cluster units. This disorder feature was accounted for in the refined crystal structure model by splitting the polar position into three sites. The electron-precise composition of ?-SiB3-x is SiB2.5 and corresponds to the incorporation of, on average, two Si atoms in each B12 icosahedron. Accordingly, ?-SiB3-x constitutes a mixture of B10Si2 and B11Si clusters. The structural and phase stability of ?-SiB3-x were explored using a first-principles cluster expansion. The most stable composition at 0 K is SiB2.5, which however is unstable with respect to the decomposition ?-SiB3 + Si. Modeling of the configurational and vibrational entropies suggests that ?-SiB3-x only becomes more stable than ?-SiB3 at temperatures above its decomposition into SiB6 and Si. Hence, we conclude that ?-SiB3-x is metastable at all temperatures. Density functional theory electronic structure calculations yield band gaps of similar size for electron-precise ?-SiB2.5 and ?-SiB3, whereas ?-SiB3 represents a p-type conductor.
| S-EPMC6854836 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:A proposed mediator of trade-offs between survival and reproduction is oxidative stress resistance. Investments in reproduction are associated with increased oxidative stress that reduces lifespan. We used the bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga to examine baseline patterns of survival, reproduction, and measures of oxidative stress, as well as how these patterns change in the face of treatments known to induce oxidative stress. RESULTS:We discovered that under standard laboratory conditions late-life mortality may be explained by increased levels of oxidative stress induced by reproduction. However, following exposure to the oxidizing agent ionizing radiation, survival was unaffected while reproduction was reduced. CONCLUSIONS:We suggest that under normal environmental conditions, reduced survival is mediated by endogenously generated oxidative stress induced by reproduction, and thus represents a cost of reproduction. Alternatively, the reduced reproduction evident under exogenously applied oxidative stress represents a cost of somatic maintenance. Biochemical analyses designed to assess levels of oxidative stress, oxidative stress resistance, and oxidative damage under normal and oxidizing conditions suggest that varying investments in enzymatic and non-enzymatic based oxidative stress resistance determine whether a cost of reproduction or a cost of somatic maintenance is observed.
| S-EPMC6359782 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A shorter lifespan as a potential cost of high reproductive effort in humans has intrigued researchers for more than a century. However, the results have been inconclusive so far and despite strong theoretical expectations we do not currently have compelling evidence for the longevity costs of reproduction. Using Monte Carlo simulation, it is shown here that a common practice in human reproduction-longevity studies using historical data (the most relevant data sources for this question), the omission of women who died prior to menopausal age from the analysis, results in severe underestimation of the potential underlying trade-off between reproduction and lifespan. In other words, assuming that such a trade-off is expressed also during reproductive years, the strength of the trade-off between reproduction and lifespan is progressively weakened when women dying during reproductive ages are sequentially and non-randomly excluded from the analysis. In cases of small sample sizes (e.g. few hundreds of observations), this selection bias by reducing statistical power may even partly explain the null results commonly found in this field. Future studies in this field should thus apply statistical approaches that account for or avoid selection bias in order to recover reliable effect size estimates between reproduction and longevity.
| S-EPMC5740284 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The antagonistic pleiotropy theory of aging proposes that genes enhancing fitness in early life limit the lifespan, but the molecular evidence remains underexplored. By profiling translatome changes in Caenorhabditis elegans during starvation recovery, we find that an open reading frame (ORF) trl-1 “hidden” within an annotated pseudogene significantly translates upon refeeding. trl-1 mutant animals increase brood sizes but shorten the lifespan and specifically impair germline deficiency–induced longevity. The loss of trl-1 abnormally up-regulates the translation of vitellogenin that produces copious yolk to provision eggs, whereas vitellogenin overexpression is known to reduce the lifespan. We show that the TRL-1 protein undergoes liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS), through which TRL-1 granules recruit vitellogenin messenger RNA and inhibit its translation. These results indicate that trl-1 functions as an antagonistic pleiotropic gene to regulate the reproduction–longevity tradeoff by optimizing nutrient production for the next generation.
| S-EPMC9170148 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundLow conception rate (CR) despite insemination with morphologically normal spermatozoa is a common reproductive restraint that limits buffalo productivity. This accounts for a significant loss to the farmers and the dairy industry, especially in agriculture-based economies. The immune-related proteins on the sperm surface are known to regulate fertility by assisting the spermatozoa in their survival and performance in the female reproductive tract (FRT). Regardless of their importance, very few studies have specifically catalogued the buffalo sperm surface proteome. The study was designed to determine the identity of sperm surface proteins and to ascertain if the epididymal expressed beta-defensins (BDs), implicated in male fertility, are translated and applied onto buffalo sperm surface along with other immune-related proteins.ResultsThe raw mass spectra data searched against an in-house generated proteome database from UniProt using Comet search engine identified more than 300 proteins on the ejaculated buffalo sperm surface which were bound either by non-covalent (ionic) interactions or by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor. The singular enrichment analysis (SEA) revealed that most of these proteins were extracellular with varied binding activities and were involved in either immune or reproductive processes. Flow cytometry using six FITC-labelled lectins confirmed the prediction of glycosylation of these proteins. Several beta-defensins (BDs), the anti-microbial peptides including the BuBD-129 and 126 were also identified amongst other buffalo sperm surface proteins. The presence of these proteins was subsequently confirmed by RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence and in vitro fertilization (IVF) experiments.ConclusionsThe surface of the buffalo spermatozoa is heavily glycosylated because of the epididymal secreted (glyco) proteins like BDs and the GPI-anchored proteins (GPI-APs). The glycosylation pattern of buffalo sperm-surface, however, could be perturbed in the presence of elevated salt concentration or incubation with PI-PLC. The identification of numerous BDs on the sperm surface strengthens our hypothesis that the buffalo BDs (BuBDs) assist the spermatozoa either in their survival or in performance in the FRT. Our results suggest that BuBD-129 is a sperm-surface BD that could have a role in buffalo sperm function. Further studies elucidating its exact physiological function are required to better understand its role in the regulation of male fertility.
| S-EPMC8235841 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Accumulating evidence suggests that early-life diet may program one's health status by causing permanent alternations in specific organs, tissues, or metabolic or homeostatic pathways, and such programming effects may propagate across generations through heritable epigenetic modifications. However, it remains uninvestigated whether postnatal dietary changes may program longevity across generations. To address this question of important biological and public health implications, newly-born flies (F0) were collected and subjected to various post-eclosion dietary manipulations (PDMs) with different protein-carbohydrate (i.e., LP, IP or HP for low-, intermediate- or high-protein) contents or a control diet (CD). Longevity and fecundity analyses were performed with these treated F0 flies and their F1, F2 and F3 offspring, while maintained on CD at all times. The LP and HP PDMs shortened longevity, while the IP PDM extended longevity significantly up to the F3 generation. Furthermore, the LP reduced while the IP PDM increased lifetime fecundity across the F0-F2 generations. Our observations establish the first animal model for studying transgenerational inheritance of nutritional programming of longevity, making it possible to investigate the underlying epigenetic mechanisms and identify gene targets for drug discovery in future studies.
| S-EPMC4931857 | biostudies-other
Project description:Since its discovery, graphene and its multiple derivatives have been extensively used in many fields and with different applications, even in biomedicine. Numerous efforts have been made to elucidate the potential toxicity derived from their use, giving rise to an adequate number of publications with varied results. On this basis, the study of the reproductive function constitutes a good tool to evaluate not only the toxic effects derived from the use of these materials directly on the individual, but also the potential toxicity passed on to the offspring. By providing a detailed scientometric analysis, the present review provides an updated overview gathering all the research studies focused on the use of graphene and graphene-based materials in the reproductive field, highlighting the consequences and effects reported to date from experiments performed in vivo and in vitro and in different animal species (from Archea to mammals). Special attention is given to the oxidized form of graphene, graphene oxide, which has been recently investigated for its ability to increase the in vitro fertilization outcomes. Thus, the potential use of graphene oxide against infertility is hypothesized here, probably by engineering the spermatozoa and thus manipulating them in a safer and more efficient way.
| S-EPMC7926437 | biostudies-literature