衰老的分子调控机制及中药的干预作用

Molecular regulative mechanisms of aging and interventional effects of Chinese herbal medicine

衰老(aging)是生物体组织、器官以及细胞功能随时间而逐渐丧失的渐进过程。有关衰老分子机制的学说包括经典的"端粒(telomere)学说"、"氧自由基(oxygen radical)学说"、"非酶糖基化(nonenzymatic glycosylation)学说"等,还有新近提出的"DNA甲基化(DNA methylation)学说"、"线粒体DNA(mitochondrial DNA,mt DNA)学说"、"自噬(autophagy)学说"等。最新的研究表明,自噬是造血干细胞对抗衰老的一种有效措施。近年来,基于衰老的分子调控机制而发现了一些很有前途的抗衰老药物,如烟酰胺单核苷酸(nicotinamide mononucleotide,NMN)和抗衰老肽——FOXO4-DRI。此外,在植物提取物领域中也有很多新发现,其中,以姜黄素(curcumin)、白藜芦醇(resveratrol)为代表的中药提取物以及一些单味中药、经典的中药复方可以在体内外干预人类衰老的分子调控机制而发挥一定的抗衰老作用。总之,基于衰老分子调控机制而研制或发掘抗衰老药物,尤其是天然药物,这是抗衰老研究领域的主要发展方向之一。

Aging is a gradual process during the loss of functions in cells,organs and tissues by time. The molecular mechanisms of aging-related theories include the classical ones such as telomere,oxygen radical and nonenzymatic glycosylation,as well as the newly proposed ones such as DNA methylation,mitochondrial DNA（ mt DNA） and autophagy. The latest study showed the anti-aging effect of autophagy in hematopoietic stem cells. In recent years,based on the molecular regulative mechanisms of aging,a number of the promising anti-aging drugs have been found,including nicotinamide mononucleotide（ NMN） and FOXO4-DRI,a peptide of anti-aging. In addition,there are many new discoveries in the field of plant extracts,in which,the extracts from Chinese herbal medicine（ CHM）,some single CHMs and the classical prescriptions of CHM,represented by curcumin and resveratrol,have the partial anti-aging effects by regulating the molecular mechanisms of aging both in vivo and in vitro. In brief,developing or exploring anti-aging drugs,especially the natural drugs,is one of the main development directions in the field of anti-aging research in the basis of the molecular regulative mechanisms of aging.