[
Adv Gerontol,
2008]
Aging of organism is a complex process, however it is succeeded to mark out of new evolution-conservative genetic component of longevity and aging. Among the most perspective problems, connecting with this component, there are search of longevity genes in model animals, investigations of mechanisms of environment influence on aging speed (meal quality, light and temperature regimes, irradiation and hypergravity), revealing of aging biomarkers and genes, determined exceptional centenarians in human, and non-genetics methods of aging correction. The most impressive results observed in gerontogene search. In yeast and nematodes there are mutations, which increase maximum lifespan on 10 times, in Drosophila and mice--about 2 times. Nevertheless, genes regulated the aging speed by indirection, controlling organism resistance to damages by exogenous and endogenous stresses.
[
IUBMB Life,
2007]
Most tRNAs share a common secondary structure containing a T arm, a D arm, an anticodon arm and an acceptor stem. However, there are some exceptions. Most nematode mitochondrial tRNAs and some animal mitochondrial tRNAs lack the T arm, which is necessary for binding to canonical elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu). The mitochondria of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans have a unique EF-Tu, named EF-Tu1, whose structure has supplied clues as to how truncated tRNAs can work in translation. EF-Tu1 has a C-terminal extension of about 60 aa that is absent in canonical EF-Tu. Recent data from our laboratory strongly suggests that EF-Tu1 recognizes the D-arm instead of the T arm by a mechanism involving this C-terminal region. Further biochemical analysis of mitochondrial tRNAs and EF-Tu from the distantly related nematode Trichinella spp. and sequence information on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA in arthropods suggest that T-armless tRNAs may have arisen as a result of duplication of the EF-Tu gene. These studies provide valuable insights into the co-evolution of RNA and RNA-binding proteins. IUBMB Life, 59: 68-75, 2007.