Sensing the presence of sugar – not the sugar itself – contributes to aging

As part of a study published in the journal PLoS Genetics, Professor Luis Rokeach and his student Antoine Roux from the Université de Montréal Biochemistry made a startling discovery. They found that if a gene for a glucose sensor were removed from yeast cells, those cells survived for as long as cells fed a glucose-restricted diet. Yeast cells were used as the model organism, because they are not only easy to study, but at a basic level, they also age much like human cells. The results of the study suggest that cells don't age based on what they consume, but on "what they think they are eating."

This contradicts long-held scientific beliefs that the by-products of broken down sugars are responsible for aging. In the study, Rokeach and Roux found that yeast cells lived longer when the amount of glucose was decreased from their diet. They then asked two key questions: Was the increased lifespan a result of a decreased ability of the cells to produce energy? Or was it due to a decrease in the signal to cells from the glucose sensor? While the researchers found that those cells that could not consume glucose as an energy source were sensitive to the aging effects of sugar, removing the sensor that measures levels of glucose significantly increased lifespan. "Thanks to this study, the link between the rise in age-related diseases and the over-consumption of sugar in today's diet is clearer. Our research opens a door to new therapeutic strategies for fighting age-related diseases," says Professor Rokeach.

News Release: Not so sweet: Over-consumption of sugar linked to aging   www.sciencedaily.com  March 9, 2009