These are the 12 key elements that lead us to aging

• Interview Izpisúa: "We are not looking for human beings to live a hundred more years, but to stop the deterioration of aging

• Research Eating less delays aging

Two research teams from the universities of Oviedo and Paris, with the collaboration of scientists from the IRB in Barcelona, ​​CNIO in Madrid and Max Planck in Cologne, Germany,

in

Specifically,

,

and the loss of the exquisite dialogue between the

that coexist with us.

Acting on them can extend longevity and improve the ca

quality of life in aging.

These three processes

that they were already

in a previous work developed by these same teams, which was published in

Cell

with the title

, and which had an exceptional scientific impact.

It was referenced thousands and thousands of times until it became the work

of the studies on the

, "a process that affects all of us and equalizes all of us", points out

, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Oviedo and head of one of the teams participating in the study.

The second team is led by

from the University of Paris.

They have also participated in the work

(IRB, Barcelona),

(CNIO, Madrid) and

(Max Planck Institute, Cologne).

The study now completed serves to

the cellular and molecular determinants that cause aging.

These D

Together they contribute decisively to the

associated with the passage of time

The new factors included

One of the processes now described is the

, which is an excellent cellular and molecular recycling process.

During aging its efficiency is reduced, which leads to the

that cause the loss of cellular and tissue functionality and the

, as López-Otín explains.

Consequently, alterations in this cellular recycling process allow the advance of aging.

Another of the key processes is related to the

, which is a positive response of the body to various damages.

However, when

causes biochemical reactions of low intensity, but of

for the body, including aging.

The

it represents the loss of the precise and balanced molecular dialogue between the human genome and that of all the microorganisms that coexist with us, including intestinal bacteria, points out the professor at the University of Oviedo.

"This imbalance is in the

and also contributes to aging.

What alterations in the

were related to aging was already known, but in recent years there have been

some in the laboratories of the different researchers responsible for the study, who have shown that beyond the correlations there is a

of these phenomena in the functional deterioration of the human organism over time.

The case of dysbiosis is more recent and has gone from being unaware of the essential details of the process to discovering its

of human health, including obesity, longevity, emotional disturbances, aging, cancer, or response to chemotherapy.

Precisely, the López-Otín team demonstrated in an important work that it is possible to

in models of normal and pathological aging through interventions in the microbiome.

In fact, his group has also discovered the existence of

.

"This type of work is what has determined the rise of some molecular or cellular processes to the

or causal determinants of ageing", explains this researcher, who predicts that "no doubt more will appear in the future".

The researchers participating in this work already have on the waiting list, at least,

.

"Time will tell if new scientific findings propel them to the category of bona fide keys to this biological process. Until then it is urgent to wait and work," he says.

Pro-longevity interventions

The findings now described

insofar as there are, for example, numerous metabolic interventions with possible pro-longevity effects, including those based on the use of

, or the

, converge precisely in a common mechanism such as the activation of autophagy.

Another way of acting on aging is process control

chronic conditions that can substantially improve

and lowering the levels of

explains López-Otín.

The

can be corrected or mitigated with

, or by supplementation with components of the

that promote health and longevity.

In addition to this work, the teams led by Carlos López-Otín and Guido Kroemer have simultaneously published another article closely related to the first, this time in

Cell Metabolism

, in which they introduce the concept of

and define four common determinants to

.

It so happens that aging and cancer are processes

, since aging represents a continuous loss of biological efficiency, while the

supposes an aberrant gain of cells that become selfish and aggressive entities until

of the organism.

However, the detailed dissection of the biological bases of both processes has led the authors to propose the existence of

aging and cancer.

These mechanisms are the

, the

, chronic inflammation and dysbiosis.

The work, in which they have also participated

(Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York).

(University of Oviedo) and

(Karolinska Institute, Stockholm), also defines a series of antagonistic and ambivalent keys in aging and cancer.

"Undoubtedly, these processes

and they share at least those four molecular mechanisms," says López-Otín, who explains that the fundamental idea is to create new frameworks for thought and intervention. "Through them, we hope to help convey the need for

and facilitate the advancement of medicine towards a more scientific and personalized environment".

The authors conclude that all these new keys and metakeys of aging and cancer will allow the design of

on each of them, so that it can be

of our lives and eventually extend longevity.

Both works "teach us the importance of

, picking up new and exciting advances in fields that are continually evolving, and accepting that ideas are dynamic and need to be reviewed over time," concludes the professor.

To continue reading for free

Sign inSign up for free

Or

and you will have access to all the web content of El Mundo