Transcription and aging

Abstract

Genome-wide surveys of gene expression changes give a global insight into the physiological status of an aging organism. Very few orthologous genes for processes such as DNA repair and mitochondrial function display aging-related shared patterns of gene expression across species. Most mechanisms affecting gene expression in an aging-related context appear to be specific to the species or tissue in question. This lack of a general mechanism for aging assumes greater significance during design of therapeutic interventions. Unlike targeted studies dissecting particular molecular pathways, gene expression analysis survey global expression profiles of the organism or tissue in question in an unbiased manner. Hence, these are an invaluable tool in identification of target biomarkers for interventions to enhance healthy aging and increase lifespan. We review here multiple aging-related transcriptomics studies that have been done within and across species as diverse as Saccharomyces cerevisiae to humans that query various age ranges, tissues and environmental perturbations.