Mori N
Department of Molecular Genetic Research, National Institute for Longevity Sciences (NILS), Aichi, Japan.
Mech Ageing Dev. 1997 Dec;98(3):223-30. doi: 10.1016/s0047-6374(97)00109-7.
Accumulative evidence suggests that species life-span is determined, at least in part, genetically. Recent cloning works using yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and worms (Caenorhabditis elegans) revealed several potential candidate genes, e.g. SIR4, a transcriptional silencing factor, and age-1, a putative signal transduction molecule, respectively, that may be involved in determining and/or regulating species life-span in lower organisms. It is, however, not clear yet whether mammalian homologs of these genes are also relevant to controlling longevity in higher organisms. In mice and humans several silencing factors are essential for cell-type specific gene expression. A variety of signal transducing molecules are also known to play important roles in mammals. I will briefly summarize recent progress in molecular genetic studies on such longevity-related genes, and discuss these results with our recent findings on a neural-selective silencing factor and a neural-specific signaling molecule that are important for functioning of the nervous system.
越来越多的证据表明，物种寿命至少部分是由基因决定的。最近利用酵母（酿酒酵母）和线虫（秀丽隐杆线虫）进行的克隆研究分别揭示了几个潜在的候选基因，例如转录沉默因子SIR4和假定的信号转导分子age-1，它们可能参与决定和/或调节低等生物的物种寿命。然而，目前尚不清楚这些基因的哺乳动物同源物是否也与控制高等生物的寿命有关。在小鼠和人类中，几种沉默因子对于细胞类型特异性基因表达至关重要。还已知多种信号转导分子在哺乳动物中发挥重要作用。我将简要总结关于此类与寿命相关基因的分子遗传学研究的最新进展，并结合我们最近关于对神经系统功能很重要的神经选择性沉默因子和神经特异性信号分子的研究结果进行讨论。
