(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It may not be the fountain of youth, but new research on insulin shows it plays an important role in aging and lifespan.

Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Irvine, Calif., report insulin inhibits a master gene regulator protein called SKN-1; increased SKN-1 activity increases lifespan, according to researchers.

“The major implication is that we have found something new that affects lifespan and aging and an important new effect that insulin and/or a related hormone called insulin-like growth factor-1 may have in some tissues,” T. Keith Blackwell, M.D., Ph.D., senior investigator at Joslin Diabetes Center and an associate professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and a faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, was quoted as saying. “The implications go far beyond diabetes.”
 

Dr. Blackwell, who is also the author of the paper, adds that fine tuning SKN-1 could also lead to increased resistance to other chronic diseases.

These findings came as a result of experiments done on a microscopic worm often used as a model organism. Researchers found SKN-1 controls a network of genes that defend cells and tissue against damage from free radicals and environmental toxins. “You can manipulate the expression of SKN-1 and the worms live longer,” Dr. Blackwell said.

The experiments will be repeated in mammals, but according to Dr. Blackwell, other findings from this particular worm model have turned out to be applicable to mice and humans.

 

SOURCE: Cell, 2008;132:1025-1038