> “By pinpointing AP-1 as a master controller linked to aging across cell types, we can now study the effects of drugs that reduce its activity to extend quality of life,” he said [2]. Targeting AP-1 and its associated pathways could lead to interventions that slow down or even prevent the onset of these diseases, marking a significant advancement in geriatric medicine.<p>Unfortunately, AP-1 is also involved in cancer.<p>From <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10361657/" rel="nofollow">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10361657/</a><p>> Activator protein-1 (AP-1) is a transcription factor that consists of a diverse group of members including Jun, Fos, Maf, and ATF. AP-1 involves a number of processes such as proliferation, migration, and invasion in cells. Dysfunctional AP-1 activity is associated with cancer initiation, development, invasion, migration and drug resistance.<p>Mentioning AP-1 without mentioning its role in cancer is misleading. Many of the mechanisms that are involved with aging, likely have a role with controlling cancer by keeping cells, especially cells with damage, from proliferating or invading nearby or distant tissue.
In my sixties and If longevity of life comes with full cognitive and physical health for the individual so they can continue contributing to society, then I'm all in. Otherwise what is the point, I will just be a burden on the world and reduced to a market for big pharma and big health care to get richer and the economy to get poorer as health care spending increases.<p>I guess these are hard questions for everyone and I don't want individuals reduced to a number in a dataset but mankind has certainly gotten itself in a bit of a pickle.
I'm sure I read about this in New Scientist maybe 12 years ago? They found this "switch" and turned it off in mice. We basically age and die so that we don't have denisovans running around mating with people who have hundreds of thousands of years of adaptations that have been tried and tested, but you can just turn that feature off. Right?
Edit: Thanks to whoever changed the title for the post!<p>jfc the media telephone chain here is absurd. "Revealing a master controller of development and ageing" becomes "AP-1: The Master Regulator." A -> the is a pretty big jump. (<a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2024/06/revealing-master-controller-of-development-and-ageing" rel="nofollow">https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2024/06/revealing-master-...</a>)<p>Also - ugh these content mills are so lame. The university PR departments aren't helping - why a university feels it needs to contribute to lowering public trust in science by claiming every paper is a generation defining breakthrough is beyond me. But maybe pause for a second before breathlessly passing along a headline like 'master controller of aging and development uncovered'? And the underlying research (<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413124002316?via%3Dihub" rel="nofollow">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S155041312...</a>) and techniques used etc is pretty interesting - please don't cut research funding to genetics a few years down the line when immortality fails to materialize like longevity.whatever promised.
... In mice.. And human! cells.<p>From the paper:<p>• Multi-omic analysis of maturation and aging across >45 mouse and human cell types<p>• Common transcription factor pattern for chromatin remodeling in maturation and aging<p>• Encoded via relative abundance of AP-1, CTCF, and cell identity factor binding sites<p>• Remodeling mechanism activated by AP-1, stress, systemic factor, or PRC2 inhibition
Having worked in cancer hospitals at the age of 16 (35 years ago) and having a father a doctor who coordinated long term cancer treatment in our country, I can say that cancer treatment has come on in leaps and bounds. What was once a death sentence is now likely treatable, and more treatments are coming online almost by the day. We will never beat cancer as we will never beat death, but we can prolong life, prevent pain, and always make sickness easier to bear both for those who suffer it and their loved ones.<p>C'mon the Science!
The gist of it in plain english:<p>1. Our genes change as we age with some becoming more active, while others become less active.<p>2. The researchers found a special protein called AP-1 that acts like a master switch. As we get older, AP-1 becomes more active.<p>3. AP-1 turns on "adult" genes and turns down "young" genes. This happens in many different types of cells in our body.<p>4. These changes in gene activity are linked to the aging process and may explain why we experience age-related health issues.<p>5. Understanding this process could help scientists develop new ways to prevent or treat diseases that commonly affect older people, like Alzheimer's or diabetes.