Weindruch R, Kayo T, Lee C K, Prolla T A
University of Wisconsin-Madison and Veterans Administration Hospital, Department of Medicine, Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
J Nutr. 2001 Mar;131(3):918S-923S. doi: 10.1093/jn/131.3.918S.
An active research area in biological gerontology concerns the mechanisms by which caloric restriction (CR) retards the aging process in laboratory rodents. We used high density oligonucleotide arrays representing 6347 genes to determine the gene expression profile of the aging process in gastrocnemius muscle of male C57BL/6 mice. Aging resulted in a differential gene expression pattern indicative of a marked stress response and lower expression of metabolic and biosynthetic genes. Most alterations were completely or partially prevented by CR. Transcriptional patterns of muscle from calorie-restricted animals suggest that CR retards the aging process by causing a metabolic shift toward increased protein turnover and decreased macromolecular damage. The use of high density oligonucleotide microarrays provides a new tool to measure biological age on a tissue-specific basis and to evaluate at the molecular level the efficacy of nutritional interventions designed to retard the aging process.
生物老年学中一个活跃的研究领域涉及热量限制（CR）延缓实验啮齿动物衰老过程的机制。我们使用代表6347个基因的高密度寡核苷酸阵列来确定雄性C57BL/6小鼠腓肠肌衰老过程中的基因表达谱。衰老导致了一种差异基因表达模式，表明存在明显的应激反应以及代谢和生物合成基因的表达降低。大多数变化通过热量限制得到了完全或部分预防。来自热量限制动物的肌肉转录模式表明，热量限制通过导致代谢向增加蛋白质周转和减少大分子损伤的方向转变来延缓衰老过程。高密度寡核苷酸微阵列的使用提供了一种新工具，可在组织特异性基础上测量生物学年龄，并在分子水平评估旨在延缓衰老过程的营养干预措施的功效。
