Ceramide is the key to muscle aging

Ceramide is the key to muscle aging

Ceramides are a class of fat molecules that are not used for energy production.

They are sphingolipids and perform other tasks in the cell.

In a study recently published in Nature Aging, scientists found that the aging process is overloaded with SPT proteins and other proteins that convert fatty acids and amino acids into ceramides.

This leads to large amounts of ceramides in muscle cells of mice in the coming years.

In further studies, after scientists administered ceramide blockers to aging mice and blocked ceramide synthesis with adeno-associated viruses

They found that older mice became stronger and had improved coordination.

RNA sequencing showed that blocking ceramide synthesis activated muscle stem cells.

It allows the muscle to produce more protein.

It allows the muscle fibers to convert into fast-contracting muscle fibers that are involved in glycolysis.

This resulted in stronger muscles in aged mice.

In addition, in a sample of thousands of volunteers between the ages of 70 and 80, scientists found that 25% of them had a gene that reduced the production of sphingolipids in muscle.

Such people had less ceramide in their muscles, were stronger, and got up from chairs more easily – which matched the results of the mouse experiments.

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