Mitochondrial permeability with autophagy in lifespan shortening: a novel therapeutic target for aging

摘要

Recently,Zhou et al.[1] revealed a hitherto unexpected mechanism in which mitochondrial permeability defines the impact of autophagy on aging in both Caenorhabditis elegans and mammals.In C.elegans,disruption of serum/glucocorticoid-regulated kinase1 (SGK1) increases mitochondrial permeability and subsequently induces autophagy,leading to lifespan shortening.Strikingly,low mitochondrial permeability is necessary for autophagy-dependent lifespan extension upon loss of SGK1.In mammals,mitochondrial permeability induction similarly transforms autophagy into an unknown harmful action in liver-specific SGK1-knockout mice,thus contributing to hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury.This novel finding indicates that elevated autophagy along with increased mitochondrial permeability has detrimental rather than beneficial effects on lifespan.Targeting mitochondrial permeability may maximize the benefits of autophagy in aging.