Interplay of genes

Little-known transcription factor RFX7 has central role in growth and cancer

22-Jul-2022 - Cancer research focuses on proteins that often appear altered in tumors and may play an important role in cancer. The RFX7 protein, a largely unknown transcription factor, has recently been linked to lymphoma. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Aging Research - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) ...

At what point do we start to age?

Preprogrammed aging: gene-controlled growth in youth drives aging of blood stem cells in late life

20-Jun-2022 - Throughout one’s life, the blood is constantly being replenished from blood stem cells. However, these cells lose their functionality in old age. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) have now found a gene mechanism that is responsible for the aging of ...

Healthy fat? Transcription factor C/EBPβ positively influences fat storage

Will we soon be able to control the storage of excess fat?

24-May-2022 - The chronic nutritional and metabolic disease of obesity is characterized by an excessive increase in body fat and its accumulation in tissues. Those who suffer from obesity also have an increased risk of concomitant or secondary diseases such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, and ...

Glycation in the body: Trigger of protein dysfunction in aging and age-related diseases

Study powerfully demonstrates how the consequences of glycation for the whole proteome can be studied

01-Apr-2022 - To maintain organ functions, the proteins in the cells need to be kept in balance (proteostasis). This state is disturbed with increasing age. One possible cause is glycation, in which sugars and proteins combine irreversibly. These advanced glycation end products (AGEs) accumulate and can lead ...

OSCAR detects cells in standby mode

New tool to better understand the biology of dormant stem cells

24-Jun-2021 - Dormancy is a sleep-like state of cells that protects them from genetic damage and thus prolongs their survival. This state is reversible and characterized by low metabolic activity and division rate. Researchers from the Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) and the ...

Stem cell differentiation and organ maintenance is controlled by lipid metabolism

16-Dec-2020 - Researchers from the Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena combined the use of mouse pluripotent stem cells and flatworms to identify genes that control lifelong maintenance and regeneration of tissues. Flatworms (also known as planarians) possess immortal ...

Intervention against aging?

Is a diabetes drug the new miracle drug to prolong life and even delay aging-associated diseases?

17-Nov-2020 - While people today are getting older and older, diseases that are associated with age (e.g. cardiovascular diseases, cancer, dementia and diabetes) are also increasing. Reaching late life while staying healthy is of high priority. Recently, the drug metformin, which has been used for decades to ...

Low proteasome activity - short life span?

Ability to eliminate spent proteins influences brain aging and individual life span

23-Jun-2020 - Aging is the main risk factor for dementia and Parkinson’s disease. As age progresses, toxic protein aggregates pile up in the brain and impair neuronal function. But why does that happen? An international team of scientists coordinated by the Leibniz Institute on Aging - Fritz Lipmann Institute ...

Long live Nemo! – New animal model in aging research?

26-Apr-2019 - The colorful Clownfish lives longer than 20 years in the Aquarium. Researchers of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy, in collaboration with the Leibniz Institute on Aging (FLI) in Jena, Germany, have investigated the genetics behind the longevity of Clownfish. By sequencing the genome ...

Back-to-back: Current Studies on the Longevity of Naked Mole-Rats

03-Aug-2018 - The “Disposable Soma Theory of Aging” suggests that each organism has only limited energy at its disposal. This energy must be distributed between the maintenance of somatic tissue and reproduction. Species confronted with a high extrinsic mortality are more likely to invest their energy in ...