Mitochondrial-derived peptides in aging and age-related diseases.
Kim. Su-Jeong SJ; Miller. Brendan B; Kumagai. Hiroshi H; Silverstein. Ana R AR; Flores. Melanie M; Yen. Kelvin K
Key Findings
- Humanin levels decline with age and are linked to age‑related diseases.
- Humanin helps regulate cell senescence, chronic inflammation, and cognitive function.
- Genetic variants in the humanin gene influence its expression and disease susceptibility, implying that boosting humanin might be beneficial.
Practical Outcomes
- For biohackers, the takeaway is that supporting mitochondrial health to maintain or increase humanin could be a worthwhile strategy, but the review stops short of providing specific supplement doses or proven methods. Consider lifestyle approaches (e.g., exercise, nutrition) that may naturally raise humanin, and watch for future research on direct supplementation.
Summary
The paper reviews how the naturally occurring peptide humanin, made by mitochondria, drops as we get older and may play a role in age‑related problems like inflammation, cell aging, and memory loss. It also notes that genetic differences can affect humanin levels and disease risk, and suggests that raising humanin could help with overall aging, but it doesn’t give concrete dosing or protocols.
Abstract
A decline in mitochondrial quality and activity has been associated with normal aging and correlated with the development of a wide range of age-related diseases. Here, we review the evidence that a decline in the levels of mitochondrial-derived peptides contributes to aging and age-related diseases. In particular, we discuss how mitochondrial-derived peptides, humanin and MOTS-c, contribute to specific aspects of the aging process, including cellular senescence, chronic inflammation, and cognitive decline. Genetic variations in the coding region of humanin and MOTS-c that are associated with age-related diseases are also reviewed, with particular emphasis placed on how mitochondrial variants might, in turn, regulate MDP expression and age-related phenotypes. Taken together, these observations suggest that mitochondrial-derived peptides influence or regulate a number of key aspects of aging and that strategies directed at increasing mitochondrial-derived peptide levels might have broad beneficial effects.
Study Information
pubmed
2020
2020-09-10T00:00:00.000Z
10.1007/s11357-020-00262-5
57
80