Longevity Extension by Phytochemicals

Molecules

Anna Leonov¹  Anthony Arlia-Ciommo¹  Amanda Piano¹  Veronika Svistkova¹  Vicky Lutchman¹  Younes Medkour¹  Vladimir I. Titorenko¹ 

关键词: phytochemicals;    interspecies chemical signals;    aging;    longevity regulation mechanisms;    evolution;    ecosystems;    hormesis;    signaling pathways;    stress response;    metabolism;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules20046544

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Phytochemicals are structurally diverse secondary metabolites synthesized by plants and also by non-pathogenic endophytic microorganisms living within plants. Phytochemicals help plants to survive environmental stresses, protect plants from microbial infections and environmental pollutants, provide them with a defense from herbivorous organisms and attract natural predators of such organisms, as well as lure pollinators and other symbiotes of these plants. In addition, many phytochemicals can extend longevity in heterotrophic organisms across phyla via evolutionarily conserved mechanisms. In this review, we discuss such mechanisms. We outline how structurally diverse phytochemicals modulate a complex network of signaling pathways that orchestrate a distinct set of longevity-defining cellular processes. This review also reflects on how the release of phytochemicals by plants into a natural ecosystem may create selective forces that drive the evolution of longevity regulation mechanisms in heterotrophic organisms inhabiting this ecosystem. We outline the most important unanswered questions and directions for future research in this vibrant and rapidly evolving field.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.