William Atkins
Thursday, 09 July 2009 19:27
Science -
Biology
Page 2 of 3
Rapamycin was first discovered as a product of the bacterium with the species name
Streptomyces hygroscopicus.
It is marketed by Wyeth under the trademarked name Rapamume.
According to the article “Longevity: Drug extends lifespan of mice,
“It targets TOR, a kinase that regulates protein translation, cell growth and cell metabolism in response to environmental cues. Reducing TOR function has already been shown to extend the life of yeast, nematode worms and flies.”
They report in their paper,
“… that rapamycin, an inhibitor of the mTOR pathway, extends median and maximal lifespan of both male and female mice when fed beginning at 600 days of age.”
And,
“On the basis of age at 90% mortality, rapamycin led to an increase of 14% for females and 9% for males. The effect was seen at three independent test sites in genetically heterogeneous mice, chosen to avoid genotype-specific effects on disease susceptibility.”
Also,
“Disease patterns of rapamycin-treated mice did not differ from those of control mice. In a separate study, rapamycin fed to mice beginning at 270 days of age also increased survival in both males and females, based on an interim analysis conducted near the median survival point.”
They found that Rapamycin may extend lifespan by
“postponing death from cancer, by retarding mechanisms of ageing, or both.”
Page three concludes.
