Molecules In Wine, Vegetables Extend Life In Cells

BOSTON -- Mice, rats, worms, flies, and yeast all live longer on a low-calorie diet, which also seems to protect mammals against cancer and other aging-related diseases. Now, in yeast cells, researchers at Harvard Medical School and BIOMOL Research Laboratories have found a way to duplicate the benefits of restricted calories in yeast with a group of compounds found in red wine and vegetables. One compound extended yeast life span by up to 80 percent. The molecules are also active in human cells cultured in the laboratory.

The findings are reported in the Aug. 24 Nature advanced online edition. The research suggests a promising route to find and develop drugs to lengthen life and prevent or treat aging-related diseases.

The molecules belong to a familiar group of compounds known as polyphenols, such as the resveratrol found in red wine and the flavones found in olive oil. For these particular polyphenols, the beneficial effects seem to be independent of their famed antioxidant properties. Instead, the molecules activate sirtuins, a family of enzymes known to extend the life span of yeast and tiny lab round worms.

"We think sirtuins buy cells time to repair damage," said Harvard molecular biologist David Sinclair. "There is a growing realization from the aging field that blocking cell death -- as long as it doesn't lead to cancer -- extends life span."

"The sirtuin stimulation provided by certain, but not all, polyphenols may be a far more important biological effect than their antioxidant action," said Konrad Howitz, director of molecular biology at BIOMOL, a biochemical reagents company.

Calorie restriction (in mammals, reducing intake to 60 or 70 percent of the normal daily calories) may be one of many mild stresses that trigger beneficial effects, a phenomenon called hormesis.

To explain their new findings, the researchers propose that plant polyphenols, which increase in response to stressful conditions, cue organisms to prepare for impending harsh conditions by switching to a more beneficial survival program. They call their hypothesis "xenohormesis."

The most potent molecule in the study, resveratrol, helped yeast cells live as much as 60 to 80 percent longer, as measured by the number of generations. Other studies have linked resveratrol to health benefits in mitigating age-related diseases, including neurodegeneration, cancer and clogged arteries. In this study, researchers were surprised to find that yeast cells treated with small doses of resveratrol lived for an average of 38 generations, compared to 19 for the untreated yeast. The polyphenol worked through a known sirtuin molecular pathway to help yeast and human cells survive environmental stresses.

In experiments with human cells, resveratrol activated a similar pathway requiring the human sirtuin, SIRT1. This enabled 30 percent of the treated human cells to survive gamma radiation compared to 10 percent of untreated cells.

Little is known about SIRT1, except that it turns off the tumor suppressor gene p53. This raises the concern that any promotion of this pathway might promote cancer even as it switches on a longevity program. But Sinclair said that calorie-restricted animals in experiments by others have lower, not higher rates of cancer.