Fat Processing Tied to Life Span

How one ages—and whether one does so healthily—depends on a complex network of genetic, physiological and environmental factors. Fielding and integrating those signals is the job of a small group of transcription factors, notably the well-known sirtuin family. It now appears that the molecule dubbed co-repressor C-terminal binding protein (CtBP) carries out a similar function, and it does so, in part, by regulating fat metabolism. In the Feb. 3 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, research fellow Shuzhen Chen, Yang Shi, an HMS professor of pathology, and colleagues report that in worms, inactivating the gene corresponding to CtBP increased life span.