Methionine restriction extends lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster under conditions of low amino-acid status

Authors

Byung Cheon Lee, Harvard Medical SchoolFollow
Alaattin Kaya, Harvard Medical School
Siming Ma, Harvard Medical School
Gwansu Kim, Korea University, Seoul
Maxim V. Gerashchenko, Harvard Medical School
Sun Hee Yim, Harvard Medical School
Zhen Hu, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lawrence G. Harshman, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Vadim N. Gladyshev, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical SchoolFollow

Date of this Version

4-7-2014

Document Type

Article

Citation

Lee, B. C. et al. Methionine restriction extends lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster under conditions of low amino-acid status. Nat. Commun. 5:3592 doi: 10.1038/ncomms4592 (2014).

Comments

Copyright 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. Released under open access license.

Abstract

Reduced methionine (Met) intake can extend lifespan of rodents; however, whether this regimen represents a general strategy for regulating aging has been controversial. Here we report that Met restriction extends lifespan in both fruit flies and yeast, and that this effect requires low amino-acid status. Met restriction in Drosophila mimicks the effect of dietary restriction and is associated with decreased reproduction. However, under conditions of high amino-acid status, Met restriction is ineffective and the trade-off between longevity and reproduction is not observed. Overexpression of InRDN or Tsc2 inhibits lifespan extension by Met restriction, suggesting the role of TOR signalling in the Met control of longevity. Overall, this study defines the specific roles of Met and amino-acid imbalance in aging and suggests that Met restiction is a general strategy for lifespan extension.