Gene expression of carbohydrate metabolism in cellular senescence and aging.
There is a general slowing of protein biosynthesis with increasing age that appears to be universal and involved in the mechanism of aging. One of the apparent expressions of this aging mechanism is an age-related decreased induction of many enzymes including, as the focus of this analysis, those of carbohydrate metabolism. The impaired induction of these enzymes contributes to the slowing of several carbohydrate metabolic pathways, and parallels a marked age-related diminution in the generation of anabolic metabolites and energy compounds from these pathways. Intracellular carbohydrate metabolism contributes to the synthesis of virtually all macromolecules of the cell, and the age-related slowing and impairment in carbohydrate metabolism appears to play a role in the expression of cellular senescence. Moreover, these intracellular impairments in the aged contribute, in part, to the expression of several physiologic decrements and pathologies that accompany the aging process, such as glucose intolerance and diabetes.
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Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D004798:Enzymes / Q000235:genetics*; D005796:Genes; D006019:Glycolysis; D006801:Humans
D004798:Enzymes