http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121121145404.htm
The vacuole -- and its counterpart in humans and other organisms, the lysosome -- has two main jobs: degrading proteins and storing molecular building blocks for the cell. To perform those jobs, the interior of the vacuole must be highly acidic.
Hughes and Gottschling found that the vacuole becomes less acidic relatively early in the yeast cell's lifespan and, critically, that the drop in acidity hinders the vacuole's ability to store certain nutrients. This, in turn, disrupts the mitochondria's energy source, causing them to break down. Conversely, when Hughes prevented the drop in vacuolar acidity, the mitochondria's function and shape were preserved and the yeast cells lived longer.
"Until now, the vacuole's role in breaking down proteins was thought to be of primary importance. We were surprised to learn it was the storage function, not protein degradation, that appears to cause mitochondrial dysfunction in aging yeast cells," Hughes said.
The unexpected discovery prompted Hughes and Gottschling to investigate the effects of calorie restriction, which is known to extend the lifespan of yeast, worms, flies and mammals, on vacuolar acidity. They found that calorie restriction -- that is, limiting the raw material cells need -- delays aging at least in part by boosting the acidity of the vacuole.
----- "It’s cheap to maintain Lies and expensive to maintain Trvth." --KZK's Maxim _______________________________________________ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
