• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Thursday, October 23, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Enzyme that breaks down amino acids may promote aging

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
January 24, 2019
in Biology
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Discovery of a mechanism that produces reactive oxygen species and invites cellular senescence

IMAGE

Credit: Kobe University


Permanently arrested cell growth is known as “cellular senescence”, and the accumulation of senescent cells may be one cause of aging in our bodies. Japanese researchers have discovered that a certain enzyme in our bodies promotes cellular senescence by producing reactive oxygen species. Drugs that target this enzyme could potentially suppress this process, and inhibit aging and aging-related illnesses.

This discovery was made by a Kobe University research team led by Professor Shinji Kamada and Research Fellow Taiki Nagano. The findings were published on January 18 in Life Science Alliance, a new open access journal created by a partnership between EMBO Press, Rockefeller University Press and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Staying healthy in old age is a pressing issue, particularly in “super-aging” societies such as Japan. The relationship between aging and cellular senescence is still not clear, but experiments using mouse models have found that removing senescent cells inhibits aging and aging-related illnesses.

Discovered about 80 years ago, D-amino acid oxidase (DAO) is an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidative deamination of D-amino acids. The research team induced cellular senescence by treating cancerous cells with low concentrations of anticancer drugs and causing DNA double-strand breaks. They discovered that the increased expression of DAO is dependent on a transcription factor known as p53, which has cancer-suppressing properties. Increased expression of DAO was confirmed in senescent cells induced by various methods, proving that DAO plays an important role in regulating cell senescence.

DAO oxidizes D-amino acids to produce α-imino acids, also producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a by-product. The accumulation of ROS has been linked both to aging and cellular senescence, so the team looked at the relationship between DAO and ROS in causing cellular senescence.

When DAO was knocked down and its activity suppressed, cellular senescence and ROS production were inhibited. The team also found that a DAO mutant without enzymatic properties did not promote cellular senescence or produce ROS. In other words, DAO facilitates cellular senescence by producing ROS through an enzymatic reaction.

The activation of cellular senescence by DAO was only observed when anticancer drugs induced a DNA double-strand break. The team predicted that a gene induced by DNA damage is contributing to this process. They found that when DNA is damaged by shortening of telomeres, treatment by anticancer drugs or the activation of cancer genes, transcription is induced in DAO and p53-regulated genes including the transporter SLC52A1. DAO is localized within the cell peroxisome, but its activity is low because there are insufficient amounts of co-enzyme flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD). SLC52A1 brings in vitamin B2 from outside the cell, this is converted to FAD in the cell, and when FAD concentration increases DAO is activated. ROS, the by-product of the reaction, damage cells by oxidizing DNA, proteins and lipids, which promotes cellular senescence (figure 1).

As implied by their name, ROS are very reactive, and it is thought that they play a part in causing diseases such as Alzheimers, Parkinsons, cancers and diabetes, as well as aging. However, ROS also work beneficially in our bodies. Low concentrations of ROS increase our lifespans, and ROS are used when our immune systems eliminate infecting organisms. It is clear that when ROS are overproduced they have a negative effect, and ROS produced under stress in particular are thought to cause illness and aging. This study has revealed a mechanism for ROS produced when cellular senescence is induced by stress.

###

Media Contact
Eleanor Wyllie
[email protected]

Original Source

http://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/research_at_kobe_en/NEWS/news/2019_01_24_01.html

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.26508/lsa.201800045

Tags: AgingAlzheimerBiochemistrycancerCell BiologyGerontologyMedicine/HealthMetabolism/Metabolic DiseasesMolecular BiologyMortality/Longevity
Share14Tweet9Share3ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Endangered Kangaroo Island Ground-Dweller Spotted in Trees: A Surprising Discovery

October 23, 2025
Boosting Auxin Production in Streptomyces for Plant Growth

Boosting Auxin Production in Streptomyces for Plant Growth

October 23, 2025

Unlocking Walnut’s Genome: Insights into Chilling Tolerance

October 23, 2025

Lipid Metabolome Boosts Invading Sailfin Catfish Success

October 22, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1275 shares
    Share 509 Tweet 318
  • Stinkbug Leg Organ Hosts Symbiotic Fungi That Protect Eggs from Parasitic Wasps

    306 shares
    Share 122 Tweet 77
  • ESMO 2025: mRNA COVID Vaccines Enhance Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy

    146 shares
    Share 58 Tweet 37
  • New Study Suggests ALS and MS May Stem from Common Environmental Factor

    132 shares
    Share 53 Tweet 33

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Endangered Kangaroo Island Ground-Dweller Spotted in Trees: A Surprising Discovery

Boosting Auxin Production in Streptomyces for Plant Growth

Apple Size Grading Using LabVIEW and YOLO

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 66 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.