title: Alternative Perspectives on Aging in Caenorhabditis elegans: Reactive Oxygen Species or Hyperfunction?
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  The biological mechanisms at the heart of the aging process are a long-standing mystery. An influential theory has it that aging is the result of an accumulation of molecular damage, caused in particular by reactive oxygen species produced by mitochondria. This theory also predicts that processes that protect against oxidative damage (involving detoxification, repair, and turnover) protect against aging and increase lifespan.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  However, recent tests of the oxidative damage theory, many using the short-lived nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, have often failed to support the theory. This motivates consideration of alternative models. One new theory, conceived by M.V. Blagosklonny, proposes that aging is caused by hyperfunction, that is, overactivity during adulthood of processes (particularly biosynthetic) that contribute to development and reproduction. Such hyperfunction can lead to hypertrophy-associated pathologies, which cause the age increase in death.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here we assess whether the hyperfunction theory is at all consistent with what is known about C. elegans aging, and conclude that it is. In particular, during adulthood, C. elegans shows a number of changes that may reflect pathology and/or hyperfunction. Such changes seem to contribute to death, at least in some cases (e.g., yolk accumulation).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our assessment suggests that the hyperfunction theory is a plausible alternative to the molecular damage theory to explain aging in C. elegans.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Healthy Ageing and Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom. david.gems@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gems
authors.forename: Yila
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: de la Guardia
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species