The long-lived Ames dwarf mouse exhibits resistance to oxidative stress, a physiological characteristic of longevity.
Since these long-lived mice exhibit an endogenous resistance to oxidative stress we proposed that the level of (SH 2Trx-ASK1 may be a physiological characteristic of longevity.
Thus, as with the pectoralis the CIV activity of the dwarf quadriceps exhibited a specific sharp decrease in activity, suggesting that this is a characteristic of longevity.
Thus, although the WT and dwarf activities decreased progressively with aging, the significant differences between them suggest that the higher levels of activity in the dwarf may be an organ-specific characteristic of longevity.
However, the only significant difference in activity occurred with the dwarf CIV at middle and old age, and involved the rate at which CIV activity declined, suggesting that these lower levels of enzyme function in the dwarf mice may be a characteristic of longevity.
These data suggest that the higher level of coupled CII-CIII activity, and failure of this activity to decline with age in the dwarf, may be a characteristic of the longevity phenotype.
Accordingly, if delayed menopause is a characteristic of female longevity (Ossewaarde et al., 2005), then it is possible that fewer offspring women in the LLS have undergone menopause showing a healthier plasma lipid profile.
It is to note that in previous reports, high levels of heteroplasmy in the mtDNA CR seem to be a genetic characteristic of human longevity, being present in centenarians and their offspring [ 43, 44] as well as in 90+ sibpairs [ 45].
This emphasizes the importance of understanding the mechanism that links ROS-sensitive signaling to the development of characteristics of aging and longevity [ 12- 14].
