Biochemistry of Aging

1. Biochemistry of Aging
Presented by Shanzay Annum Malik

2. Aging
• Gradual change in an organism that leads
to increased risk of weakness, disease,
and death over the entire adult life span of
any living thing.
• There is a decline in biological functions
and in ability to adapt to metabolic stress.

3. Changes in organs include
• reduced immunity,
• loss of muscle strength,
• decline in memory and cognition,
• loss of colour in the hair
• elasticity in the skin.

4. Gerontology and Geriatrics
• Gerontology is concerned with the
changes that occur between maturity and
death along with factors that influence
these changes.
• Geriatrics focuses on health care of
elderly people and promote health by
preventing and treating diseases and
disabilities in older adults.

5. Factors of Aging
• mitochondrial damage
• free radicals
• telomeres
• apoptosis and necrosis
• diseases
• other effects

6. Mitochondria: main unit of chemical power supply
• During the synthesis of macroergical bio-
molecules(high energy releasing
potentials e.g. ATP) free radicals are
being produced as the by-product.
• Free radicals released in large quantities
cause intercellular oxidative stress (e.g.
oxidative damage of mitochondria)
• damaging mitochondria and cause early
apoptosis

8. Free radical
• A molecule that contains one or more
unpaired electrons &is capable of
independent existence.
• Eg : Superoxide H2O2,
• hydroperoxy radical (HOO+2
)
• lipid peroxideradical (ROO)
• Nitric oxide (NO)

9. Harmful effect of free radicals
• Because of their reactive nature, free radical can
provoke inflammation or altered cellular function
through
• Lipid peroxidation
• Protein modification
• DNA modification

11. Lipid peroxidation product:
• React with amino acid mainly CYS,
HIS,LYS to modify protein structure &
function.
• Can crosslink lipid in cell membrane
interrupting structure & fluidity.

12. Protein modification
• Proteins are major targets of free radical attack because
of their high abundance & responsible for most of
functional processes.
• Free radical causes oxidation & modification of certain
amino acid (met, cys,His,try)
• ROS may damage protein by fragmentation
• net result is loss of biological activity of proteins

13. DNA modification :
• Free radical induced DNA damage
includes
– strand break.
– DNA protein crosslink.
– large range of base & sugar modification.

14. Telomeres
• Repetitive DNA sequences at the ends of
all human chromosomes
• aging cells have shorter telomeres
• length differs between species
• in humans 8-14kb long

16. • Telomeres are thought to be the "clock"
that regulates how many times an
individual cell can divide.
• Telomeric sequences shorten each time
the DNA replicates.
• Once the telomere shrinks to a certain
level, the cell can no longer divide. Its
metabolism slows down, it ages, and dies

17. Apoptosis and Necrosis
• There are two ways that a cell can die:
• Necrosis occurs when a cell is damaged
by an external force, such as poison, a
bodily injury, an infection or getting cut off
from the blood supply (which might occur
during a heart attack or stroke). When
cells die from necrosis, it's a rather messy
affair. The death causes inflammation that
can cause further distress or injury within
the body.

19. • Apoptosis or programmed cell death
• When a cell is compelled to commit
suicide proteins called caspases go into
action.
• They break down the cellular components
needed for survival,
• production of enzymes known as DNases,
which destroy the DNA in the nucleus of
the cell.

21. Diseases
• Progeria
• Werner Syndrome

22. other effects
• Stress Effects
• Octopus Suicide : The octopus suicide
mechanism involves behaviors where
Females stop eating and die of starvation

23. Anti-aging Agents.
• Aspirin
• Caloric restriction
• Exercise
• laughing out louder
• Resveratrol, a constituent of red wine and
grape skins has been found to extend life
span

24. Non aging species
• Rougheye Rockfish 205 Years
• Lake Sturgeon 152 Years
• Aldabra Tortise 152 Years
• Koi 226 Years
• Bowhead Whale 211 Years