Leucine metabolism in yeast chronological lifespan regulation

초록

Changes in amino acids metabolism has been found to be closely related to aging. In order to examine changes in amino acid metabolism during aging process, we have isolated metabolites whose cellular levels were changed during aging by comparing metabolites of young and old cells. Among the identified metabolites, we selected an intermediate of leucine biosynthesis pathway. Leucine is the only amino acid that is known to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. In old mouse, extra supplement of leucine was shown to increase muscle protein synthesis and to delay muscle protein degeneration. In this study, we examined the effects of exogenous leucine and the isolated metabolites supplement on yeast chronological lifespan. In addition, we constructed some mutants of leucine biosynthesis pathway genes and their lifespan was analyzed.