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Longer life through an odd Pol enzyme

The evolutionarily conserved enzyme RNA polymerase III is a driver of protein synthesis and cell growth. It emerges that partial suppression of this essential enzyme extends lifespan in yeast, roundworms and flies.
  1. Bruce A. Edgar

    1. Bruce A. Edgar is in the Department of Oncological Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA.

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  2. Savraj S. Grewal

    1. Savraj S. Grewal is in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1, Canada.

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Gene transcription in animal and fungal cells is accomplished by three RNA polymerase (Pol) enzymes. Although Pol II, which transcribes DNA to make messenger RNAs, is arguably the best understood, up to 80% of transcription is driven by Pol I and Pol III1, known as the ‘odd’ Pols, which synthesize core RNA components of the cell’s protein-synthesizing machinery. Pol I makes large ribosomal RNAs that form the structural and catalytic heart of the ribosome (the complex that mediates mRNA translation), whereas Pol III makes transfer RNAs also involved in translation, another ribosomal RNA, and small nuclear RNAs that mediate mRNA processing. Owing to its perceived unglamorous, albeit vital role, research on Pol III has been sparse — particularly with regard to organismal physiology. But in a paper online in Nature, Filer et al.2 highlight a role for this enzyme as a key determinant of cellular and organismal ageing.

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Nature 552, 182-183 (2017)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-017-07435-x

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