Scientists create road map to metabolic reprogramming for aging

In efforts to understand what influences life span, cancer and aging, scientists are building road maps to navigate and learn about cells at the molecular level.

To survey previously uncharted territory, a team of researchers at UW-Madison has created an “atlas” that maps more than 1,500 unique landmarks within mitochondria that could provide clues to the metabolic connections between caloric restriction and aging.

The map, as well as the techniques used to create it, could lead to a better understanding of how cell metabolism is rewired in some cancers, age-related diseases and metabolic conditions such as diabetes.

"It’s really a dynamic atlas for regulatory points in mitochondrial function — there are many interesting avenues that other scientists can follow up on," says John Denu, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of biomolecular chemistry and leader of the epigenetics theme at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID). "It could take years for researchers to understand what it all means, but at least now we have a list of the most important players."

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