Université de Fribourg

The Evolution of Aging

Fabian, Daniel ; Flatt, Thomas

In: Nature Education Knowledge, 2011, vol. 3, no. 3, p. 1-10

Université de Fribourg

Aging and Its Demographic Measurement

Bronikowski, Anne M. ; Flatt, Thomas

In: Nature Education Knowledge, 2010, vol. 1, no. 12, p. 1-6

This case study highlights the general issues raised earlier. First, that maximum lifespan is not an easily obtainable metric. Specifically, it is unambiguous in the sense that once the last animal dies, it is most definitely dead. But to estimate the variance in maximum lifespan, many replicate populations would need to be followed for each treatment group (with each replicate providing a single...

Université de Fribourg

Diet and longevity in the balance

Flatt, Thomas

In: Nature, 2009, vol. 462, no. 24, p. 989-990

Dietary restriction promotes longevity but impairs fecundity in many organisms. When the amino acids in a diet are fine-tuned, however, lifespan can be increased without loss of fecundity — at least in fruitflies.

Université de Fribourg

Drosophila germ-line modulation of insulin signaling and lifespan

Flatt, Thomas ; Min, Kyung-Jin ; D'Alterio, Cecilia ; Villa-Cuesta, Eugenia ; Cumbers, John ; Lehmann, Ruth ; Jones, D. Leanne ; Tatar, Marc

In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008, vol. 105, no. 17, p. 6368–6373

Ablation of germ-line precursor cells in Caenorhabditis elegans extends lifespan by activating DAF-16, a forkhead transcription factor (FOXO) repressed by insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling (IIS). Signals from the gonad might thus regulate whole-organism aging by modulating IIS. To date, the details of this systemic regulation of aging by the reproductive system are not...

Université de Fribourg

Still Pondering an Age-Old Question

Flatt, Thomas ; Promislow, Daniel E. L.

In: Science, 2007, vol. 318, p. 1255-1256

A theory of trade-offs to explain why we age has spurred 50 years of interdisciplinary research in evolution and molecular genetics.

Université de Fribourg

Counting calories in Drosophila diet restriction

Min, Kyung-Jin ; Flatt, Thomas ; Kulaots, Indrek ; Tatar, Marc

In: Experimental Gerontology, 2006, vol. 42, no. 3, p. 247-251

The extension of life span by diet restriction in Drosophila has been argued to occur without limiting calories. Here we directly measure the calories assimilated by flies when maintained on full- and restricted-diets. We find that caloric intake is reduced on all diets that extend life span. Flies on low-yeast diet are long-lived and consume about half the calories of flies on high-yeast diets,...

Université de Fribourg

Parvalbumin-expressing ependymal cells in rostral lateral ventricle wall adhesions contribute to aging-related ventricle stenosis in mice

Filice, Federica ; Celio, Marco R. ; Babalian, Alexandre ; Blum, Walter ; Szabolcsi, Viktoria

In: Journal of Comparative Neurology, 2017, vol. 525, no. 15, p. 3266–3285

Aging-associated ependymal-cell pathologies can manifest as ventricular gliosis, ventricle enlargement, or ventricle stenosis. Ventricle stenosis and fusion of the lateral ventricle (LV) walls is associated with a massive decline of the proliferative capacities of the stem cell niche in the affected subventricular zone (SVZ) in aging mice. We examined the brains of adult C57BL/6 mice and...

Université de Fribourg

Aging causes a reorganization of cortical and spinal control of posture

Papegaaij, Selma ; Taube, Wolfgang ; Baudry, Stéphane ; Otten, Egbert ; Hortobágyi, Tibor

In: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2014, vol. 6, p. 28

Classical studies in animal preparations suggest a strong role for spinal control of posture. In humans it is now established that the cerebral cortex contributes to postural control of unperturbed and perturbed standing. The age-related degeneration and accompanying functional changes in the brain, reported so far mainly in conjunction with simple manual motor tasks, may also affect the...

Université de Fribourg

The Caenorhabditis elegans LET-418/Mi2 plays a conserved role in lifespan regulation

Vaux, Véronique De ; Pfefferli, Catherine ; Passannante, Myriam ; Belhaj, Khaoula ; Essen, Alina von ; Sprecher, Simon G. ; Müller, Fritz ; Wicky, Chantal

In: Aging Cell, 2013, p. –

The evolutionarily conserved nucleosome-remodeling protein Mi2 is involved in transcriptional repression during development in various model systems, plays a role in embryonic patterning and germ line development, and participates in DNA repair and cell cycle progression. It is the catalytic subunit of the nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylase (NuRD) complex, a key determinant of...

Université de Fribourg

Positive crosstalk between arginase-II and S6K1 in vascular endothelial inflammation and aging

Yepuri, Gautham ; Velagapudi, Srividya ; Xiong, Yuyan ; Rajapakse, Angana G. ; Montani, Jean-Pierre ; Ming, Xiu-Fen ; Yang, Zhihong

In: Aging Cell, 2012, p. -

Augmented activities of both arginase and S6K1 are involved in endothelial dysfunction in aging. This study was to investigate whether or not there is a crosstalk between arginase and S6K1 in endothelial inflammation and aging in senescent human umbilical vein endothelial cells and in aging mouse models. We show increased arginase-II (Arg-II) expression/activity in senescent endothelial cells....