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  • Sarcosine Is Uniquely Modulated by Aging and Dietary Restriction in Rodents and Humans.

Sarcosine Is Uniquely Modulated by Aging and Dietary Restriction in Rodents and Humans.

Cell reports (2018-10-18)
Ryan O Walters, Esperanza Arias, Antonio Diaz, Emmanuel S Burgos, Fangxia Guan, Simoni Tiano, Kai Mao, Cara L Green, Yungping Qiu, Hardik Shah, Donghai Wang, Adam D Hudgins, Tahmineh Tabrizian, Valeria Tosti, David Shechter, Luigi Fontana, Irwin J Kurland, Nir Barzilai, Ana Maria Cuervo, Daniel E L Promislow, Derek M Huffman
ABSTRACT

A hallmark of aging is a decline in metabolic homeostasis, which is attenuated by dietary restriction (DR). However, the interaction of aging and DR with the metabolome is not well understood. We report that DR is a stronger modulator of the rat metabolome than age in plasma and tissues. A comparative metabolomic screen in rodents and humans identified circulating sarcosine as being similarly reduced with aging and increased by DR, while sarcosine is also elevated in long-lived Ames dwarf mice. Pathway analysis in aged sarcosine-replete rats identify this biogenic amine as an integral node in the metabolome network. Finally, we show that sarcosine can activate autophagy in cultured cells and enhances autophagic flux in vivo, suggesting a potential role in autophagy induction by DR. Thus, these data identify circulating sarcosine as a biomarker of aging and DR in mammalians and may contribute to age-related alterations in the metabolome and in proteostasis.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Sigma-Aldrich
Anti-Acetylated Tubulin antibody, Mouse monoclonal, clone 6-11B-1, purified from hybridoma cell culture
Sigma-Aldrich
Sarcosine, crystallized, ≥98.0% (T)
Sigma-Aldrich
Formaldehyde solution, ACS reagent, 37 wt. % in H2O, contains 10-15% Methanol as stabilizer (to prevent polymerization)
Sigma-Aldrich
Methanol, anhydrous, 99.8%
Sigma-Aldrich
Ammonium chloride, for molecular biology, suitable for cell culture, ≥99.5%
Sigma-Aldrich
Monoclonal Anti-Actin (α-Sarcomeric) antibody produced in mouse, clone 5C5, ascites fluid
Sigma-Aldrich
Triton X-100, laboratory grade