CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 5, 2005 During the last decade researchers have made a number of important discoveries about the molecular mechanisms regulating aging. This research has suggested the exciting prospect that the rate of aging can be manipulated and slowed, leading to longer human lifespan. A major peer-reviewed article in the current issue of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery describes the intimate links between these pathways of aging and those of metabolic disease, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. The authors describe how these insights open the door to novel classes of drugs which can be developed to not only treat diabetes and obesity, but also effectively slow the aging process and extend lifespan. These and other findings are reviewed in the article, "Aging and Metabolism: Drug Discovery Opportunities", authored by Elixir Pharmaceuticals' researchers Drs. Rory Curtis, Bard J. Geesaman and Peter S. DiStefano and appearing in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (July 2005, Vol. 4, No. 7).

John Kopchick, Ph.D., Goll-Ohio Eminent Scholar and Professor of Molecular Biology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Konneker Research Center, Ohio University, commented, "This article provides an elegant and comprehensive survey of the essential connections between metabolic disease pathways and aging. The potential of this research is profound: Modulating these pathways may not only uncover yet unknown therapeutic targets and/or drugs to treat metabolic disease, but also has the potential to impact the progression of aging itself."

Summary of the article

Aging is a major risk factor for several major diseases including cancers, cardiovascular, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. Many of the genes discovered over the last decade that are known to affect lifespan belong to evolutionarily conserved biochemical pathways that are also intricately involved in the control of energy metabolism. Diabetes can
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Contact: Justin Jackson
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Burns McClellan
3-Jul-2005

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