CR Males 55+ Participate in the Study with Stephen Spindler and Joseph Dhahbi

[Paul McGlothin]

Happy holidays all! On behalf of the CR Society and Drs. Spindler and Dhahbi and the rest of the Lab staff, we are pleased to announce that there is availability for five more male participants in the CR-RNA study of the messenger RNA, micro-RNA, and DNA methylation patterns in long-term serious calorie restrictors. You can see the original recruitment notice on the site here. Everything is the same now except that for this cohort Dr. Joseph Dhahbi, is looking for males 55 or older who have not been ill and who do not take medications.

 

 

 

This is a valuable opportunity to work with distinguished CR scientists in a project that sets the standard for the way CR effectiveness is judged at the molecular level.

 

Already, Dr. Dhahbi has published foundational studies in mice that lay the groundwork for the human study. Consider this recent paper:

 

 

 

mRNA-Seq reveals complex patterns of gene regulation and expression in the mouse skeletal muscle transcriptome associated with calorie restriction.

 

 

Dhahbi JM, Atamna H, Boffelli D, Martin DI, Spindler SR.0

 

…To identify potential mechanisms by which CR preserves skeletal muscle integrity during aging, we used mRNA-Seq for deep characterization of gene regulation and mRNA abundance in skeletal muscle of old mice compared with old mice subjected to CR. mRNA-Seq revealed complex CR-associated changes in expression of mRNA isoforms, many of which occur without a change in total message abundance and thus would not be detected by methods other than mRNA-Seq. Functional annotation of differentially expressed genes reveals CR-associated upregulation of pathways involved in energy metabolism and lipid biosynthesis, and downregulation of pathways mediating protein breakdown and oxidative stress, consistent with earlier microarray-based studies. CR-associated changes not noted in previous studies involved downregulation of genes controlling actin cytoskeletal structures and muscle development. These CR-associated changes reflect generally healthier muscle, consistent with CR's mitigation of sarcopenia. mRNA-Seq generates a rich picture of the changes in gene expression associated with CR, and may facilitate identification of genes that are primary mediators of CR's effects.

 

PMID:22274562

 

 

If you are interested in participating in the CR cohort, please contact Meredith Averill at boardchair@CRSociety.org.

 

 

While this particular study seeks older male subjects, Meredith and I are committed to providing study opportunities for every serious calorie restrictor who wants them. That takes money. Toward that end, we will be conducting a series of workshops. We will post more on that as details are determined.

 

 

 

Paul