Longevity & AgingExercise Reverses Muscle Aging by Quieting an Overactive Gene Called DEAF1
Muscle loss is among the most important physical changes of aging, and scientists now have a clearer picture of why exercise helps. Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School, working with Singapore General Hospital and Cardiff University, identified a gene called DEAF1 that rises with age in muscle. When DEAF1 is overactive, it helps push a growth-signaling pathway called mTORC1 out of balance. Muscle cells then keep making proteins but fail to clear damaged ones, and the defective proteins build up and stress the cells. Exercise helped restore this balance and allowed older muscles to rebuild and regain strength. The benefit appeared to shrink when the system was too badly disrupted, which may help explain why exercise works better for some older people than others. The work was done in fruit flies and mice and published in PNAS. It points to DEAF1 as a possible target for future treatments, but human studies are still needed.
