Scientists may have identified a solution to age-associated muscle degeneration, and it all comes down to resynchronising our internal body clocks.
Our bodies are governed by a complex network of biological clocks. At the heart of this complex system is a central clock located in the brain. This central clock is thought to coordinate the other peripheral clocks around our body and integrate external and internal signals such as day light, activity and food intake. However, as we age our various body clocks can become out of sync, with detrimental outcomes for our health.
In the case of our muscles, this desynchronization can alter our metabolism and cause muscle wasting, impacting our strength and mobility. But in a new study, published in the journal Science, researchers from the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona have demonstrated these effects could be reversed by restoring communication between our brain and muscle body clocks.
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Previous research has identified a gene called Bmal1 which is believed to play an important role in biological clock function in mice. When this gene is "knocked out" (i.e. engineered not to work any more) mice show premature aging, altered metabolism and muscle wasting.
Using cutting-edge biotech, the Pompeu Fabra team were able to switch these genes back on, but only in certain tissues. Turning the gene back on in either the muscles or the brain did not restore muscle function. However, when both the muscle and brain clock genes were turned back on, the mice showed fewer signs of aging and better muscular function, suggesting that it is the communication between the muscle and brain clocks that is required for healthy muscle function and aging.
However, there was one exception to this rule: mice who only had activated muscle clocks still saw a restoration in muscle function after following a regime of time-restricted eating such that their food intake was limited to their most active time of day (which for mice is at night.) The same thing happened in normal, aged mice.
"Our research reveals the interplay between the central and peripheral clocks in daily muscle function and underscores the impact of eating patterns on these interactions," the authors write.
More work is needed to confirm that these results translate into humans. But these findings offer an exciting avenue for future work into muscle restoration and other body clock-related disorders associated with aging.
"These results highlight the potential for genetic and physiological reprogramming of the intrinsic aging clock machinery toward a more youthful state and have implications for strategies to prevent circadian rhythm disruptions caused by modern lifestyles and for developing treatments for age-related diseases and aging itself," the authors write.
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About the writer
Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more
