title: Involvement of redox state in the aging of Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: CONCLUSIONS
  The main objective of this review was to provide an exposition of investigations, conducted in Drosophila melanogaster, on the role of reactive oxygen species and redox state in the aging process. While early transgenic studies did not clearly support the validity of the oxidative stress hypothesis of aging, predicated on the accumulation of structural damage, they spawned a broader search for redox-related effects that might impact the aging process.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Initial evidence implicating the thiol redox state as a possible causative factor in aging has been obtained in Drosophila. Overexpression of genes, such as GCL, G6PD, Prx2, and Prx5, which are involved in the maintenance of thiol redox homeostasis, has strong positive effects on longevity. Further, the depletion of peroxiredoxin activity in the mitochondria through the double knockdown of Prx5 and Prx3 not only results in a redox crisis but also elicits a rapid aging phenotype.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Herein, we summarize the present status of knowledge about the main components of the machinery controlling thiol redox homeostasis and describe how age-related redox fluctuations might impact aging more acutely through disruption of the redox-sensitive signaling mechanisms rather than via the simple accumulation of structural damage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on these initial insights into the plausible impact of redox fluctuations on redox signaling, future studies should focus on the pathways that have been explicitly implicated in aging, such as insulin signaling, TOR, and JNK/FOXO, with particular attention to elements that are redox sensitive.
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275, USA. borr@smu.edu
authors: William C
authors: WC
authors: Orr
authors: Svetlana N
authors: SN
authors: Radyuk
authors: Rajindar S
authors: RS
authors: Sohal
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000502:physiology; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D010088:Oxidoreductases