As we age we naturally loose our ability to perform successful biological tasks in our bodies, making us more susceptible to diseases. One of the biological pathways involved in aging and longevity is PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Recent studies have demonstrated that the overstimulation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway could be potentially the reason for aging, neurodegenerative disease, and ultimately death. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects approximately 36 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of dementia in the United States.
People become increasingly vulnerable to AD as they age as and as the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway becomes over stimulated it begins to lead to many of the side affects of AD. Normally, the signaling pathway works to regulate gene expression, cellular repair, and metabolism. The pathway creates a protein cascade once initiated, by binding a molecule to a receptor, kind of like a lock and key. This pathway is activated by insulin and an insulin-like growth factor and activates and deactivates many things in the cell. The over activation of this pathway has been shown to cause many enzymes to become unregulated leading to the plaques and neurofibrial tangles that are characteristic of AD and brain damage. However, the complete reason behind this pathway and why people age and develop neurodegenerative diseases, such as AD, is not fully understood.
This pathway could be the “fountain of youth” that scientists and researchers have been, for centuries, searching for. If there was a way to control the activation of this pathway that would lead to an increase in life expectancy would people choose to do this? Much of what medicine works to do is to extend life expectancy and rid society of preventable diseases such as obesity, drug induced illnesses, and so forth. So if this pathway could be controlled, there is some belief, that it could partially halt cell death and/or produce regenerative properties that could increase a person’s lifespan.
However, what does this mean for our world? People would begin to live longer and longer. If you could prolong your life say by ten years would you? Our society today has a much higher life expectancy than centuries ago and yet we are still searching for immortality. If we had an option, such as utilizing this biological pathway would more people choose to live longer than people are living now? What would that mean for the world’s population and the diseases that will then begin to surface? As we search for ways to prolong life and rid the world of diseases and illnesses, are we doing what is best for the environment and for all people? Lastly, should we be the deciding factor on our own time of death? These questions cannot be answered by a simple yes or no, but through great discussion that must take place in the near future as we reach new levels of understanding in the human body.
References:
- http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/guide/alzheimers-dementia
- Neill, Cora. PI3-Kinase/Akt/mTOR signaling: Impaired on/off switches in aging, cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. Experimental Gerontology. March 2013.
