R. Weindruch et al., Microarray profiling of gene expression in aging and its alteration by caloric restriction in mice, J NUTR, 131(3), 2001, pp. 918S-923S
An active research area in biological gerontology concerns the mechanisms b
y which caloric restriction (CR) retards the aging process in laboratory ro
dents. We used high density oligonucleotide arrays representing 6347 genes
to determine the gene expression profile of the aging process in gastrocnem
ius muscle of male C57BL/6 mice. Aging resulted in a differential gene expr
ession pattern indicative of a marked stress response and lower expression
of metabolic and biosynthetic genes. Most alterations were completely or pa
rtially prevented by CR. Transcriptional patterns of muscle from calorie-re
stricted animals suggest that CR retards the aging process by causing a met
abolic shift toward increased protein turnover and decreased macromolecular
damage. The use of high density oligonucleotide microarrays provides a new
tool to measure biological age on a tissue-specific basis and to evaluate
at the molecular level the efficacy of nutritional interventions designed t
o retard the aging process.