Ageing is a natural process, but it comes with various health challenges, including the deterioration of essential body systems. One key contributor to ageing-related diseases is the decline in “proteostasis,” or the body’s ability to maintain the balance of healthy proteins.
As we age, our cells lose the efficiency of their protein quality control mechanisms, leading to the build-up of damaged or misfolded proteins, which can result in cellular stress and degenerative diseases. Research into preserving proteostasis has become central to efforts aimed at extending lifespan and improving the quality of life for older adults.
A research team from Chung-Ang University in Korea, led by Professor Seogang Hyun, recently made significant strides in understanding how to maintain proteostasis.
Their study, published in the journal Autophagy, investigated the relationship between two key protein quality control systems, proteasomes and autophagy, and identified a drug with promising anti-ageing effects.
Proteasomes are protein complexes responsible for breaking down damaged proteins into smaller peptides, while autophagy is a cellular process that recycles larger structures, including protein aggregates. Both systems play a vital role in maintaining proteostasis, yet their combined activation in the fight against ageing had not been fully understood. The research team’s discovery centres on a drug called IU1, which enhances proteasome activity and, as they found, also stimulates autophagy.
The study used fruit flies (genus Drosophila) as a model organism to test the effects of IU1.
Fruit flies share many similarities with humans in terms of ageing, including age-related muscle deterioration, making them valuable subjects for such research. The team observed that IU1 inhibited a specific enzyme (USP14) that regulates the proteasome complex, leading to enhanced proteasome and autophagy activities. This synergistic effect resulted in improved muscle function and extended lifespan in the fruit flies.
Even more exciting is that similar results were observed in human cells, suggesting the potential for IU1 to benefit human ageing as well.
Professor Hyun emphasised the broader implications, noting that reduced proteostasis is a hallmark of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The findings could lay the groundwork for new therapies targeting age-related conditions.
The study marks an important step toward developing treatments that could slow the ageing process, improve health in older adults, and extend lifespans. Source: India Today