title: Genes, ageing and longevity in humans: problems, advantages and perspectives.
abstract: Many epidemiological data indicate the presence of a strong familial component of longevity that is largely determined by genetics, and a number of possible associations between longevity and allelic variants of genes have been described. A breakthrough strategy to get insight into the genetics of longevity is the study of centenarians, the best example of successful ageing. We review the main results regarding nuclear genes as well as the mitochondrial genome, focusing on the investigations performed on Italian centenarians, compared to those from other countries. These studies produced interesting results on many putative "longevity genes". Nevertheless, many discrepancies are reported, likely due to the population-specific interactions between gene pools and environment. New approaches, including large-scale studies using high-throughput techniques, are urgently needed to overcome the limits of traditional association studies performed on a limited number of polymorphisms in order to make substantial progress to disentangle the genetics of a trait as complex as human longevity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Pathology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salvioli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marchegiani
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cardelli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bellavista
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mishto
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Invidia
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Capri
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Valensin
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sevini
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cevenini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Celani
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lescai
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gonos
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paolisso
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Benedictis
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Monti
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Franceschi
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D053327:Apolipoprotein E4 / Q000235:genetics; D001053:Apolipoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D043303:Aryldialkylphosphatase / Q000235:genetics; D051152:Clusterin / Q000235:genetics; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005796:Genes; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000235:genetics; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000235:genetics; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics*; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases / Q000235:genetics; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex / Q000502:physiology; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000235:genetics; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D053327:Apolipoprotein E4; D001053:Apolipoproteins; D051152:Clusterin; D016207:Cytokines; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases; D043303:Aryldialkylphosphatase; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex