Leonard P. Guarente

Leonard P. Guarente is an American biologist best known for his research on life span extension in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. He is currently at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he is Novartis Professor of Biology.[1]

Guarente, along with graduate students Mitch McVey and Matt Kaeberlein, reported in 1999 that increased activity of the Sir2 protein slows aging in yeast mother cells.[2] Sir2 is the founding member of the Sirtuin family of enzymes. Guarente is recognized as the leading proponent of the hypothesis that caloric restriction slows aging by activation of Sirtuins. This hypothesis has been challenged by Kaeberlein and another former graduate student of Guarente's, Brian Kennedy, both of whom are professors at the University of Washington.

Leonard Guarente has written an autobiography titled "Ageless Quest: One Scientist's Search for Genes That Prolong Youth". The book was published in 2003 by Cold Spring Harbor Press.

References

  1. ^ Lenord Guarente's faculty website at MIT.
  2. ^ Kaeberlein M, McVey M, Guarente L (Oct 1 1999). "The SIR2/3/4 complex and SIR2 alone promote longevity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by two different mechanisms.". Genes & Development (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press) 13 (19): 2570–80. doi:10.1101/gad.13.19.2570. PMC 317077. PMID 10521401. http://genesdev.cshlp.org/content/13/19/2570.full.pdf+html. "The SIR genes are determinants of life span in yeast mother cells. Here we show that life span regulation by the Sir proteins is independent of their role in nonhomologous end joining. The short life span of a sir3 or sir4 mutant is due to the simultaneous expression of a and alpha mating-type information, which indirectly causes an increase in rDNA recombination and likely increases the production of extrachromosomal rDNA circles. The short life span of a sir2 mutant also reveals a direct failure to repress recombination generated by the Fob1p-mediated replication block in the rDNA. Sir2p is a limiting component in promoting yeast longevity, and increasing the gene dosage extends the life span in wild-type cells. A possible role of the conserved SIR2 in mammalian aging is discussed." 

See also