Matsuzaki T, Weistuch C, de Graff A, Dill KA, Balázsi G. Transcriptional drift in aging cells: A global de-controller.
BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.11.21.568122. [PMID:
38045342 PMCID:
PMC10690170 DOI:
10.1101/2023.11.21.568122]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
As cells age, they undergo a remarkable global change: In transcriptional drift, hundreds of genes become overexpressed while hundreds of others become underexpressed. Using archetype modeling and Gene Ontology analysis on data from aging Caenorhabditis elegans worms, we find that the upregulated genes code for sensory proteins upstream of stress responses and downregulated genes are growth- and metabolism-related. We propose a simple mechanistic model for how such global coordination of multi-protein expression levels may be achieved by the binding of a single ligand that concentrates with age. A key implication is that a cell's own responses are part of its aging process, so unlike for wear-and-tear processes, intervention might be able to modulate these effects.
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