Decreased cellular proliferation by energy restriction is recovered by increasing housing temperature in rats

Caloric restriction extends lifespan in a clonal plant

When subjected to dietary caloric restriction (CR), individual animals often outlive well-fed conspecifics. Here, we address whether CR also extends lifespan in plants. Whereas caloric intake in animals comes from ingestion, in plants it derives from photosynthesis. Thus, factors that reduce photosynthesis, such as reduced light intensity, can induce CR. In two lab experiments investigating the aquatic macrophyte Lemna minor, we tracked hundreds of individuals longitudinally, with light intensity-and hence, CR-manipulated using neutral-density filters. In both experiments, CR dramatically increased lifespan through a process of temporal scaling. Moreover, the magnitude of lifespan extension accorded with the assumptions that (a) light intensity positively relates to photosynthesis following Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and (b) photosynthesis negatively relates to lifespan via a power law. Our results emphasize that CR-mediated lifespan extension applies to autotrophs as well as heterotrophs, and suggest that variation in light intensity has quantitatively predictable effects on plant aging trajectories.

A general model for ontogenetic growth under food restriction

Food restriction (FR) retards animals' growth. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon is important to conceptual problems in life-history theory, as well as to applied problems in animal husbandry and biomedicine. Despite a considerable amount of empirical data published since the 1930s, there is no relevant general theoretical framework that predicts how animals vary their energy budgets and life-history traits under FR. In this paper, we develop such a general quantitative model based on fundamental principles of metabolic energy allocation during ontogeny. This model predicts growth curves under varying conditions of FR, such as the compensatory growth, different age at which FR begins, its degree and its duration. Our model gives a quantitative explanation for the counterintuitive phenomenon that under FR, lower body temperature and lower metabolism lead to faster growth and larger adult size. This model also predicts that the animals experiencing FR reach the same fraction of their adult mass at the same age as their ad libitum counterparts. All predictions are well supported by empirical data from mammals and birds of varying body size, under different conditions of FR.

Caloric restriction: from soup to nuts

Caloric restriction (CR), reduced protein, methionine, or tryptophan diets; and reduced insulin and/or IGFI intracellular signaling can extend mean and/or maximum lifespan and delay deleterious age-related physiological changes in animals. Mice and flies can shift readily between the control and CR physiological states, even at older ages. Many health benefits are induced by even brief periods of CR in flies, rodents, monkeys, and humans. In humans and nonhuman primates, CR produces most of the physiologic, hematologic, hormonal, and biochemical changes it produces in other animals. In primates, CR provides protection from type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebral vascular diseases, immunological decline, malignancy, hepatotoxicity, liver fibrosis and failure, sarcopenia, inflammation, and DNA damage. It also enhances muscle mitochondrial biogenesis, affords neuroprotection; and extends mean and maximum lifespan. CR rapidly induces antineoplastic effects in mice. Most claims of lifespan extension in rodents by drugs or nutrients are confounded by CR effects. Transcription factors and co-activators involved in the regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and energy metabolism, including SirT1, PGC-1alpha, AMPK and TOR may be involved in the lifespan effects of CR. Paradoxically, low body weight in middle aged and elderly humans is associated with increased mortality. Thus, enhancement of human longevity may require pharmaceutical interventions.

Characterization of gene expression profile associated with energy restriction-induced cold tolerance of heart

Hypothermia is known to be a common feature of energy restriction (ER) and essential for a life-prolonging effect of ER. The heart is sensitive to hypothermia, but the heart in ER mice acquires some adaptation to hypothermia. The aim of the present study was to characterize the gene expression profile associated with ER-induced cold resistance of heart. We analyzed the expression of heart mRNA from ER (200 kJ/week) or control (400 kJ/week) B6 11-month-old male mice using cDNA array membranes including 588 genes. Eighty-eight out of 588 genes were expressed in the heart. mRNAs increased by ER were glutathion S-transferase Mu1, transcriptional factor 1 for heat shock gene (HSF1), and fetal myosin alkali light chain genes. mRNA decreased by ER were seven genes in four categories: (1). cell cycle or apoptosis-related proteins (cyclin G and nucleoside diphosphate kinase B); (2). stress response proteins (oxidative stress-induced protein); (3). DNA repair proteins (protein involved in DNA double-strand break repair, Rad23 UV excision repair protein homologue and ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme); and (4). cell-surface antigens (lamimin receptor 1). These data suggest that the heart of ER mice adapts to hypothermia involving heat shock proteins and their transcriptional factors and by changing structure and property of myofibrils. It is also suggested that ER induces protection against oxidative stress and inhibits cell proliferation of "nonmuscle cells" in the heart. Gene expression analysis using cDNA array was useful for screening genes associated with ER-induced cold adaptation.

Influence of diet restriction and tumor promoter dose on cell proliferation, oxidative DNA damage and rate of papilloma appearance in the mouse skin after initiation with DMBA and promotion with TPA

The mouse skin tumor initiation-promotion model was used to investigate the protective effect of diet restriction in mechanistic and quantitative terms. A total of five groups of 14 male NMRI mice were initiated with 100 nmol 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) and promoted twice weekly with 2.5, 1.25, or 0.625 nmol 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Food intake was ad libitum (all 3 TPA dose levels) or restricted to 70% (high and intermediate TPA dose levels). Time of appearance of the first papilloma was recorded for each mouse. Two weeks later, an osmotic minipump delivering 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) was implanted and the mouse was killed after 24 h. Cell proliferation in the epidermis was assessed by immunohistochemistry for BrdU incorporated into DNA. 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) in epidermal DNA was determined by HPLC/electrochemical detection. The median latency time (t50) for the appearance of skin papilloma in the high-, intermediate-, and low-dose TPA groups fed ad libitum was 9, 15.5, and 23.5 weeks, respectively. The diet-restricted groups (high and intermediate TPA dose) showed t50 values of 16 and 26 weeks. Therefore, diet restriction to 70% had approximately the same protective effect as reducing the dose of TPA by a factor of two. Both the rate of cell proliferation and the level of 8-OH-dG in the epidermis increased with the dose of TPA. Median values were increased 3- to 4-fold at the highest dose. In controls, but not in TPA-treated animals, diet restriction resulted in a decrease for both markers, by 25 and 40% for the labeling index for cell division and the level of 8-OH-dG, respectively. Both markers showed an inverse relationship with the median papilloma latency time. On an individual basis, the correlation was significant in some groups, but only for the labeling index. The data indicate that protection from the skin tumor-promoting effect of TPA by diet restriction could be based more on a reduction of the rate of cell division than on a reduction of oxidative DNA damage.

Electrophysiological evidence of an increase in cold tolerance of cardiac muscles in mice after energy restriction

Life-prolonging energy restriction (ER) has been known to extend longevity. The heart was selected as the target organ of ER and the electrophysiological properties of ER on the heart were investigated. Action potential parameters were measured on ventricular papillary muscles of C57BL/6 mice (2-6 months of age). Resting membrane potential (Rm) did not change even when the temperature was lowered to 20 degrees C in ER mice (-67.5 +/- 0.8 mV), however, the membrane was depolarized in the control (-61.1 +/- 1.1 mV). Action potential duration measured at 30 and 50% repolarization was significantly prolonged in ER mice at 20-35 degrees C. Ouabain (10 microM) decreased Rm in ER mice at 20 degrees C (-68.6 +/- 1.0 to -63.6 +/- 0.8 mV), but failed to decrease Rm in the control (-60.6 +/- 1.8 to -62.1 +/- 1.2 mV). There were no significant differences in extracted Na, K-ATPase activity or affinity and binding capacity of ouabain between ER and control hearts. These results indicate that in ER mice the lack of effect of temperature on Rm was not due to a change in the physicochemical properties of Na, K-ATPase. The present study collectively suggests that ER increases cold tolerance in the heart of mice.

A tumor preventive effect of dietary restriction is antagonized by a high housing temperature through deprivation of torpor

Energy restriction (ER) has proven to be the only effective means of retarding aging in mice. The mechanisms of multiplicity of effects of ER on aging remain, however, fragmentary. ER induces daily torpor, the induction of which is reduced by increasing the ambient temperature to 30 degrees C. The effects of preventing hypothermia in ER animals were studied in terms of the expected consequences of ER on survival, disease pattern and a number of physiological parameters in autoimmune prone MRL/lpr mice and lymphoma prone C57BL, 6 mice. The results demonstrate that torpor plays a crucial role in the prevention of lymphoma development but does not have an affect on other aspects of ER, such as prevention of autoimmune diseases.