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Ageing

Generations of longevity

Nature volume 479, pages 302–303 (2011)Cite this article

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A Correction to this article was published on 07 December 2011

The lifespan of some organisms can be extended by mutations that alter how DNA is packaged in their cells. A study reveals that this effect can last for generations, even in descendants that are genetically normal. See Article p.365

For decades, ageing was considered to be the result of progressive damage culminating in catastrophic breakdown. Yet similar animals can have vastly different lifespans — a barn owl can expect to live less than 8 years, a parrot more than 30 years — suggesting that there are mutable genetic pathways that control longevity. By studying small animals with short lifespans, such as the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, scientists have identified key pathways that can modulate ageing1. One of these involves the COMPASS complex (most probably an H3K4me3 regulatory complex in C. elegans), an assembly of proteins that organizes DNA by chemically modifying a DNA-packaging protein called histone H3. Mutations in any of the three COMPASS subunits lead to defects in histone regulation and, in C. elegans, to a longer life2.

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Figure 1: Transgenerational effects of COMPASS mutations on longevity.

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  1. Susan E. Mango is in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.,

    Susan E. Mango

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Correspondence to Susan E. Mango.

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Mango, S. Generations of longevity. Nature 479, 302–303 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/479302a

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