FGF21 is required for protein restriction to extend lifespan and improve metabolic health in male mice.

Dietary protein restriction is increasingly recognized as a unique approach to improve metabolic health, and there is increasing interest in the mechanisms underlying this beneficial effect. Recent work indicates that the hormone FGF21 mediates the metabolic effects of protein restriction in young mice. Here we demonstrate that protein restriction increases lifespan, reduces frailty, lowers body weight and adiposity, improves physical performance, improves glucose tolerance, and alters various metabolic markers within the serum, liver, and adipose tissue of wildtype male mice. Conversely, mice lacking FGF21 fail to exhibit metabolic responses to protein restriction in early life, and in later life exhibit early onset of age-related weight loss, reduced physical performance, increased frailty, and reduced lifespan. These data demonstrate that protein restriction in aging male mice exerts marked beneficial effects on lifespan and metabolic health and that a single metabolic hormone, FGF21, is essential for the anti-aging effect of this dietary intervention.

Antiaging diets: Separating fact from fiction.

Caloric restriction has been known for nearly a century to extend life span and delay age-associated pathology in laboratory animals. More recently, alternative "antiaging" diet modalities have been described that provide new mechanistic insights and potential clinical applications. These include intermittent fasting, fasting-mimicking diets, ketogenic diets, time-restricted feeding, protein restriction, and dietary restriction of specific amino acids. Despite mainstream popularization of some of these diets, many questions remain about their efficacy outside of a laboratory setting. Studies of these interventions support at least partially overlapping mechanisms of action and provide insights into what appear to be highly conserved mechanisms of biological aging.

Leptin treatment prevents impaired hypoglycemic counterregulation induced by exposure to severe caloric restriction or exposure to recurrent hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia-associated autonomic failure (HAAF) is a maladaptive failure in glucose counterregulation in persons with diabetes (PWD) that is caused by recurrent exposure to hypoglycemia. The adipokine leptin is known to regulate glucose homeostasis, and leptin levels fall following exposure to recurrent hypoglycemia. Yet, little is known regarding how reduced leptin levels influence glucose counterregulation, or if low leptin levels are involved in the development of HAAF. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of hypoleptinemia on the neuroendocrine responses to hypoglycemia. We utilized two separate experimental paradigms known to induce a hypoleptinemic state: 60% caloric restriction (CR) in mice and three days of recurrent hypoglycemia (3dRH) in rats. A sub-set of animals were also treated with leptin (0.5-1.0 µg/g) during the CR or 3dRH periods. Neuroendocrine responses to hypoglycemia were assessed 60 min following an IP insulin injection on the terminal day of the paradigms. CR mice displayed defects in hypoglycemic counterregulation, indicated by significantly lower glucagon levels relative to controls, 13.5 pmol/L (SD 10.7) versus 64.7 pmol/L (SD 45) (p = 0.002). 3dRH rats displayed reduced epinephrine levels relative to controls, 1900 pg/mL (SD 1052) versus 3670 pg/mL (SD 780) (p = 0.030). Remarkably, leptin treatment during either paradigm completely reversed this effect by normalizing glucagon levels in CR mice, 78.0 pmol/L (SD 47.3) (p = 0.764), and epinephrine levels in 3dRH rats, 2910 pg/mL (SD 1680) (p = 0.522). These findings suggest that hypoleptinemia may be a key signaling event driving the development of HAAF and that leptin treatment may prevent the development of HAAF in PWD.

Leptin receptor signaling is required for intact hypoglycemic counterregulation: A study in male Zucker rats.

Hypoglycemia is a major barrier to clinical management of persons with diabetes. Emerging evidence supports a role for leptin in gating hypoglycemic counterregulation. This work demonstrates that male leptin receptor null, Zucker (fa/fa), rats display severe impairments in hypoglycemic counterregulation. Thus, augmenting leptin levels may have clinical utility for preventing hypoglycemia.

The AGE Presents Introduction to Geroscience video lecture series.

The AGE Presents Introduction to Geroscience video lecture series is a collection of high-quality didactic video lectures and associated teaching materials focused on foundational topics in aging biology. The videos are made freely available on YouTube and are targeted toward an audience familiar with concepts learned in the first year of a college undergraduate biology/biomedical major. Members of the American Aging Association also receive the original lecture slides and lecture notes, with additional course materials to be developed in the future. We expect that these lectures will enhance understanding of geroscience among the general public while also providing tools that educators can use in the classroom for high school, undergraduate, and graduate level curricula.

FGF21 prevents low-protein diet-induced renal inflammation in aged mice.

Low-protein (LP) diets extend lifespan through a comprehensive improvement in metabolic health across multiple tissues and organs. Many of these metabolic responses to protein restriction are secondary to transcriptional activation and release of FGF21 from the liver. However, the effects of an LP diet on the kidney in the context of aging has not been examined. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to investigate the impact of chronic consumption of an LP diet on the kidney in aging mice lacking FGF21. Wild-type (WT; C57BL/6J) and FGF21 knockout (KO) mice were fed a normal protein diet (20% casein) or an LP (5% casein) diet ad libitum from 3 to 22 mo of age. The LP diet led to a decrease in kidney weight and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio in both WT and FGF21 KO mice. Although the LP diet produced only mild fibrosis and infiltration of leukocytes in WT kidneys, the effects were significantly exacerbated by the absence of FGF21. Accordingly, transcriptomic analysis showed that inflammation-related pathways were significantly enriched and upregulated in response to LP diet in FGF21 KO mice but not WT mice. Collectively, these data demonstrate that the LP diet negatively affected the kidney during aging, but in the absence of FGF21, the LP diet-induced renal damage and inflammation were significantly worse, indicating a protective role of FGF21 in the kidney.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Long-term protein restriction is not advantageous for an otherwise healthy, aging kidney, as it facilitates the development of renal tubular injury and inflammatory cell infiltration. We provide evidence using FGF21 knockout animals that FGF21 is essential to counteract the renal injury and inflammation during aging on a low-protein diet.

Physiologic Responses to Dietary Sulfur Amino Acid Restriction in Mice Are Influenced by Atf4 Status and Biological Sex.

BACKGROUND: Dietary sulfur amino acid restriction (SAAR) improves body composition and metabolic health across several model organisms in part through induction of the integrated stress response (ISR). OBJECTIVE: We investigate the hypothesis that activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) acts as a converging point in the ISR during SAAR. METHODS: Using liver-specific or global gene ablation strategies, in both female and male mice, we address the role of ATF4 during dietary SAAR. RESULTS: We show that ATF4 is dispensable in the chronic induction of the hepatokine fibroblast growth factor 21 while being essential for the sustained production of endogenous hydrogen sulfide. We also affirm that biological sex, independent of ATF4 status, is a determinant of the response to dietary SAAR. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that auxiliary components of the ISR, which are independent of ATF4, are critical for SAAR-mediated improvements in metabolic health in mice.

The importance of diversity and outreach in geroscience research: Insights from the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students.

US academic science lacks racial, ethnic, sex, gender, disability, and socioeconomic diversity. Addressing this problem is essential to drive scientific progress but is confounded by broad misunderstandings regarding diverse groups. Increasing representation in science is particularly relevant in geroscience, where our research to maximize healthy human lifespan must also address existing racial and socioeconomic health disparities. The American Aging Association (AGE) is committed to addressing these issues as part of its larger mission to advance and promote geroscience research. Over the last three years, AGE has sponsored an exhibition booth staffed by trainee leaders to promote our society and research at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), an ideal venue to interact with diverse students from across the country. Through our interactions with students, advocates, and representatives from other institutions and societies, we have learned a great deal about how to engage and promote the success of diverse students in the sciences. Here, we share these insights that are helping shape our own outreach efforts. In addition to interacting with ABRCMS attendees, we also learned a great deal about how societies like AGE can partner with other organizations to advance our shared goals and the importance of reaching students early in their academic journey to promote their success. Finally, we consider how to grow our outreach efforts beyond ABRCMS to reach those in disadvantaged areas and support students navigating academic science.

Consuming a ketogenic diet leads to altered hypoglycemic counter-regulation in mice.

Ketogenic diets (KDs) are becoming increasingly popular for the treatment of diabetes, yet they are associated with increased frequency of hypoglycemia. Here we report that mice fed a KD display blunted glucagon release to hypoglycemia and neuroglucopenia, suggesting that consuming a KD may increase the risk for iatrogenic hypoglycemia.

FGF21 and the Physiological Regulation of Macronutrient Preference.

The ability to respond to variations in nutritional status depends on regulatory systems that monitor nutrient intake and adaptively alter metabolism and feeding behavior during nutrient restriction. There is ample evidence that the restriction of water, sodium, or energy intake triggers adaptive responses that conserve existing nutrient stores and promote the ingestion of the missing nutrient, and that these homeostatic responses are mediated, at least in part, by nutritionally regulated hormones acting within the brain. This review highlights recent research that suggests that the metabolic hormone fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) acts on the brain to homeostatically alter macronutrient preference. Circulating FGF21 levels are robustly increased by diets that are high in carbohydrate but low in protein, and exogenous FGF21 treatment reduces the consumption of sweet foods and alcohol while alternatively increasing the consumption of protein. In addition, while control mice adaptively shift macronutrient preference and increase protein intake in response to dietary protein restriction, mice that lack either FGF21 or FGF21 signaling in the brain fail to exhibit this homeostatic response. FGF21 therefore mediates a unique physiological niche, coordinating adaptive shifts in macronutrient preference that serve to maintain protein intake in the face of dietary protein restriction.

FGF21 Signals Protein Status to the Brain and Adaptively Regulates Food Choice and Metabolism.

Reduced dietary protein intake induces adaptive physiological changes in macronutrient preference, energy expenditure, growth, and glucose homeostasis. We demonstrate that deletion of the FGF21 co-receptor ßKlotho (Klb) from the brain produces mice that are unable to mount a physiological response to protein restriction, an effect that is replicated by whole-body deletion of FGF21. Mice forced to consume a low-protein diet exhibit reduced growth, increased energy expenditure, and a resistance to diet-induced obesity, but the loss of FGF21 signaling in the brain completely abrogates that response. When given access to a higher protein alternative, protein-restricted mice exhibit a shift toward protein-containing foods, and central FGF21 signaling is essential for that response. FGF21 is an endocrine signal linking the liver and brain, which regulates adaptive, homeostatic changes in metabolism and feeding behavior during protein restriction.

Homeostatic sensing of dietary protein restriction: A case for FGF21.

Restriction of dietary protein intake increases food intake and energy expenditure, reduces growth, and alters amino acid, lipid, and glucose metabolism. While these responses suggest that animals 'sense' variations in amino acid consumption, the basic physiological mechanism mediating the adaptive response to protein restriction has been largely undescribed. In this review we make the case that the liver-derived metabolic hormone FGF21 is the key signal which communicates and coordinates the homeostatic response to dietary protein restriction. Support for this model centers on the evidence that FGF21 is induced by the restriction of dietary protein or amino acid intake and is required for adaptive changes in metabolism and behavior. FGF21 occupies a unique endocrine niche, being induced when energy intake is adequate but protein and carbohydrate are imbalanced. Collectively, the evidence thus suggests that FGF21 is the first known endocrine signal of dietary protein restriction.

Effects of rapamycin on growth hormone receptor knockout mice.

It is well documented that inhibition of mTORC1 (defined by Raptor), a complex of mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), extends life span, but less is known about the mechanisms by which mTORC2 (defined by Rictor) impacts longevity. Here, rapamycin (an inhibitor of mTOR) was used in GHR-KO (growth hormone receptor knockout) mice, which have suppressed mTORC1 and up-regulated mTORC2 signaling, to determine the effect of concurrently decreased mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling on life span. We found that rapamycin extended life span in control normal (N) mice, whereas it had the opposite effect in GHR-KO mice. In the rapamycin-treated GHR-KO mice, mTORC2 signaling was reduced without further inhibition of mTORC1 in the liver, muscle, and s.c. fat. Glucose and lipid homeostasis were impaired, and old GHR-KO mice treated with rapamycin lost functional immune cells and had increased inflammation. In GHR-KO MEF cells, knockdown of Rictor, but not Raptor, decreased mTORC2 signaling. We conclude that drastic reduction of mTORC2 plays important roles in impaired longevity in GHR-KO mice via disruption of whole-body homeostasis.

Low protein-induced increases in FGF21 drive UCP1-dependent metabolic but not thermoregulatory endpoints.

Dietary protein restriction increases adipose tissue uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), energy expenditure and food intake, and these effects require the metabolic hormone fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21). Here we test whether the induction of energy expenditure during protein restriction requires UCP1, promotes a resistance to cold stress, and is dependent on the concomitant hyperphagia. Wildtype, Ucp1-KO and Fgf21-KO mice were placed on control and low protein (LP) diets to assess changes in energy expenditure, food intake and other metabolic endpoints. Deletion of Ucp1 blocked LP-induced increases in energy expenditure and food intake, and exacerbated LP-induced weight loss. While LP diet increased energy expenditure and Ucp1 expression in an FGF21-dependent manner, neither LP diet nor the deletion of Fgf21 influenced sensitivity to acute cold stress. Finally, LP-induced energy expenditure occurred even in the absence of hyperphagia. Increased energy expenditure is a primary metabolic effect of dietary protein restriction, and requires both UCP1 and FGF21 but is independent of changes in food intake. However, the FGF21-dependent increase in UCP1 and energy expenditure by LP has no effect on the ability to acutely respond to cold stress, suggesting that LP-induced increases in FGF21 impact metabolic but not thermogenic endpoints.

Longevity is impacted by growth hormone action during early postnatal period.

Life-long lack of growth hormone (GH) action can produce remarkable extension of longevity in mice. Here we report that GH treatment limited to a few weeks during development influences the lifespan of long-lived Ames dwarf and normal littermate control mice in a genotype and sex-specific manner. Studies in a separate cohort of Ames dwarf mice show that this short period of the GH exposure during early development produces persistent phenotypic, metabolic and molecular changes that are evident in late adult life. These effects may represent mechanisms responsible for reduced longevity of dwarf mice exposed to GH treatment early in life. Our data suggest that developmental programming of aging importantly contributes to (and perhaps explains) the well documented developmental origins of adult disease.

Differential effects of early-life nutrient restriction in long-lived GHR-KO and normal mice.

There is increasing evidence that growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling (collectively referred to as somatotropic signaling) during development has a profound influence on aging and longevity. Moreover, the absence of GH action was shown to modify responses of adult mice to calorie restriction (CR) and other antiaging interventions. It was therefore of interest to determine whether GH resistance in GH receptor knockout (GHR-KO) mice would modify the effects of mild pre-weaning CR imposed by increasing the number of pups in a litter (the so-called litter crowding). In addition to the expected impact on body weight, litter crowding affected glucose homeostasis, hepatic expression of IGF-1 and genes related to lipid metabolism, and expression of inflammatory markers in white adipose tissue, with some of these effects persisting until the age of 2 years. Litter crowding failed to further extend the remarkable longevity of GHR-KO mice and, instead, reduced late life survival of GHR-KO females, an effect opposite to the changes detected in normal animals. We conclude that the absence of GH actions alters the responses to pre-weaning CR and prevents this intervention from extending longevity.