Molecular Chaperones and the Epigenetics of Longevity and Cancer Resistance

摘要

The inherent immortality of embryonic stem cells demonstrates that replicative senescence as possibly the aging of species are epigenetic phenomena. The cellular level of expression of the housekeeping molecular chaperones correlates with longevity and cancer resistance of species. The chaperones are cancer antagonists by acting as genetic buffers, stabilizing the normal phenotype. Probably the progressive age-related silencing of the housekeeping genes contributes to the phenotype of aging, with the associated increase in cancer incidence. The present review concerns epigenetic chemical, immunological, and hormonal mechanisms, activating chaperone- and immune-response genes, which have proved effective in increasing longevity and cancer resistance. The relation of steroid hormone levels to species longevity, the anticarcinogenic activity of pregnancy hormones, and the influence of hormones on the longevity of social insects, illustrates the importance of hormonal mechanisms for the activation of longevity genes.