Aging is a natural process that many people fear, as it can serve as a measure of how much time one has left to live. There are many manufactured products available to lessen the appearance of aging, but unfortunately, there is nothing one could do to prevent it from occurring. Nevertheless, the idea of being able to prevent aging, or at least slow it down, suggests that it would be possible to extend lifespan since aging makes people more susceptible to diseases. A lot of current research on aging look into telomeres, which appear to shorten as we age. However, there are undoubtedly many other sources that have yet to be discovered from which we can gain a better understanding of the aging process. A recent finding has identified one such source of information.
Image Source: Tim Flach
Researchers have discovered that aging results in an imbalance of the redox equilibrium in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The ER serves many functions, one of which is the secretion of proteins into the bloodstream. The ER helps these proteins mature by providing an oxidizing environment that allows disulfide bonds to form. The formation of disulfide bonds is important because disulfide bonds stabilize protein structures and allow proteins to fold correctly (both of which are necessary for proteins to carry out their functions). The researchers found that aging actually causes the oxidizing environment in the ER to no longer function properly. This means that disulfide bonds are no longer able to form, and as a result, secreted proteins become unstable. The researchers state that this newly found information may be used to understand why older people have weaker immune systems (antibodies secreted from the ER become unable to function due to incorrect folding).
Although this new insight into aging is important, we are still very far from having enough information to be able to prevent aging. Many people do not think about death until aging-related changes occur, but if someday a cure for aging is found, hopefully, no one would ever have to think about death again.
Feature Image Source: The Photographer vs. the Viewer by zeevveez
