title: Can Metabolic Mechanisms of Stem Cell Maintenance Explain Aging and the Immortal Germline?
abstract: The mechanisms underlying the aging process are not understood. Even tissues endowed with somatic stem cells age while the germline appears immortal. I propose that this paradox may be explained by the pervasive use of glycolysis by somatic stem cells as opposed to the predominance of mitochondrial respiration in gametes.
authors.affiliation: Columbia Center for Translational Immunology, Department of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address: hs2680@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Hans-Willem
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Snoeck
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*