title: The genetics of human longevity: an intricacy of genes, environment, culture and microbiome.
abstract: Approximately one-quarter of the variation in lifespan in developed countries can be attributed to genetic factors. However, even large population based studies investigating genetic influence on human lifespan have been disappointing, identifying only a few genes accounting for genetic susceptibility to longevity. Some environmental and lifestyle determinants associated with longevity have been identified, which interplay with genetic factors in an intricate way. The study of gene-environment and gene-gene interactions can significantly improve our chance to disentangle this complex scenario. In this review, we first describe the most recent approaches for genetic studies of longevity, from those enriched with health parameters and frailty measures to pathway-based and SNP-SNP interaction analyses. Then, we go deeper into the concept of "environmental influences" in human aging and longevity, focusing on the contribution of life style changes, social and cultural influences, as important determinants of survival differences among individuals in a population. Finally, we discuss the contribution of the microbiome in human longevity, as an example of complex interaction between organism and environment. In conclusion, evidences collected from the latest studies on human longevity provide a support for the collection of life-long genetic and environmental/lifestyle variables with beneficial or detrimental effects on health, to improve our understanding of the determinants of human lifespan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036, Rende, Italy. Electronic address: serena.dato@unical.it.
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dato
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036, Rende, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036, Rende, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Crocco
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical, Experimental and Clinical Sciences Mario Serio, Viale Morgagni, 50, 50134, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Monti
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Interdepartmental Centre "L.Galvani" for Bioinformatics, Biophysics and Biocomplexity, Via San Giacomo, 12, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garagnani
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Interdepartmental Centre "L.Galvani" for Bioinformatics, Biophysics and Biocomplexity, Via San Giacomo, 12, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Franceschi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036, Rende, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Passarino
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000502:physiology*; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D064307:Microbiota / Q000502:physiology*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
keywords: Contribution of lifestyle to longevity; Genetics determinants of longevity; Genomic instability; Microbiota-host cross talk; lncRNA; miRNA