Vanfleteren J R, De Vreese A
Department of Morphology, Systematics and Ecology, University of Ghent, Belgium.
Electrophoresis. 1994 Feb;15(2):289-96. doi: 10.1002/elps.1150150149.
The metabolic rate decreases dramatically as a function of age in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. Superoxide anion production, which is tightly linked to oxygen consumption, and thus to metabolic rate, drops to a 20-fold lower level in 10-day-old, senescent worms, as compared to 4-day-old young adults. In a long-lived mutant strain of the same species metabolic activity is much better preserved. High resolution two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was employed to study alterations in the protein profile, correlating with changes of metabolic activity. Surprisingly, few proteins show age- or age- and strain-specific variations of spot intensity. The abundance of the huge majority of proteins displayed on these gels remains unaltered, irrespective of age and strain differences. These results imply that there are no major age-related alterations of proteins due to faulty protein synthesis or free radical attack, and that age-related changes in the rate of protein synthesis and breakdown must be strictly coordinated throughout the aging process.
在秀丽隐杆线虫中，代谢率会随着年龄的增长而急剧下降。超氧阴离子的产生与氧气消耗紧密相关，进而与代谢率相关，与4天大的年轻成虫相比，10天大的衰老线虫中超氧阴离子的产生量降至低20倍的水平。在同一物种的长寿突变株中，代谢活性得到了更好的保留。采用高分辨率二维凝胶电泳来研究与代谢活性变化相关的蛋白质谱变化。令人惊讶的是，很少有蛋白质表现出斑点强度的年龄特异性或年龄和品系特异性变化。无论年龄和品系差异如何，这些凝胶上显示的绝大多数蛋白质的丰度都保持不变。这些结果表明，由于蛋白质合成错误或自由基攻击，不存在与年龄相关的主要蛋白质改变，并且在整个衰老过程中，蛋白质合成和分解速率的年龄相关变化必须严格协调。
