Blog

Shown below is an excerpt from an article that was published…

Shown below is an excerpt from an article that was published in the journal Science Advances in 2022 (it’s been edited for clarity). Read it, then answer the questions that follow. Hint: It might be helpful to look at the questions first before you start reading the article: BAR HARBOR, MAINE – A research team led by Samuel Beck, Ph.D., of the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, has determined that disruption of the structure of chromatin is responsible for inflammaging. Inflammaging is persistent, low-grade inflammation that has been linked to the chronic diseases of old age, including Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, macular degeneration and more, as well as to a shortened lifespan. We have known for a while that long-term inflammation is connected to aging, but the reason why inflammation leads to aging has been unclear. In a recent paper, Beck demonstrated that this long-term inflammation, which has been dubbed “inflammaging,” is caused by disruption of the three-dimensional structure of the chromatin. Specifically, Beck demonstrated that age-related disruption of chromatin structure leads to the mis-expression of CGI- genes. CGI- genes are genes that are only expressed in specific tissues (as opposed to being expressed all throughout the body). In aging kidneys and hearts, for example, he found that more than 30% of CGI- genes were mis-expressed as compared to young tissues. This leads not only to inflammation, but it also interferes with the function of the cell.   “We believe the loss of the ability to precisely transcribe genetic information from CGI- genes with age is a hallmark of aging,” Beck said. “With further study of the link between CGI- gene dysregulation and age-related diseases, it should be possible to develop therapeutics that delay or lessen the degenerative changes that occur with aging, and thus to extend healthy human lifespan.”    Question: Based on the information from the article above, “inflammaging” occurs when the structure of _________ is disrupted.