Shixia Xu, Professor, PhD supervision at Nanjing Normal University, director of Chinese Society of Zoology, executive director & secretary general of the Professional Committee of Evolutionary Theory of Chinese Society of Zoology. The goal of our laboratory is to understand the molecular mechanisms of evolution innovation in mammals, special for cetaceans, including lifespan extension and anti-cancer, brain development, as well as blubber thickness, and etc. We have published more than 60 papers in international journals, such as Molecular Biology and Evolution, Nature Communations. Our work have been founded by five projects of National Natural Science Foundation of China, two projects of National Key Programme of Research and Development, Ministry of Science and Technology, the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), and the Qinglan Project of Jiangsu Province.
报告简介
Extreme longevity has evolved multiple times during the evolution of mammals, yet its underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely underexplored. Here, we compared the evolution of 115 aging-related genes in 11 long-lived species and 25 mammals with non-increased life- span (control group) in the hopes of better understanding the common molecular mechanisms behind longevity. We identified 16 unique positively selected genes and 23 rapidly evolving genes in long-lived species, which included nine genes involved in regulating lifespan through the in- sulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) pathway and 11 genes highly enriched in immune-response-related pathways, suggesting that the IIS pathway and immune response play a particularly important role in exceptional mammalian longevity. Interestingly, 11 genes related to cancer progression, including four positively selected genes and seven genes with convergent amino acid changes, were shared by two or more long-lived lineages, indicating that long-lived mammals might have evolved convergent or similar mechanisms of cancer resistance that extended their lifespan. This suggestion was further corroborated by our identification of 12 robust candidates for longevity-related genes closely related to cancer.