Abstract
Ageing is a phenomenon where the accumulation of all the stresses that alter the functions of living organisms, halter them from maintaining their physiological balance and eventually lead to death. The emergence of epigenetic tremendously contributed to the knowledge of ageing. Epigenetic changes in cells or tissues like deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation, modification of histone proteins, transcriptional modification and also the involvement of non-coding DNA has been documented to be associated with ageing. In order to study ageing, scientists have taken advantage of several potential organisms to aid them in their study. Drosophila melanogaster has been an essential model in establishing current understanding of the mechanism of ageing as they possess several advantages over other competitors like having homologues to more than 75% of human disease genes, having 50% of Drosophila genes are homologues to human genes and most importantly they are genetically amenable. Here, we would like to summarise the extant knowledge about ageing and epigenetic process and the role of Drosophila as an ideal model to study epigenetics in association with ageing process.
Highlights
Ageing is generally defined as progressively getting older and classically coupled with senescence
The failure of organisms responding to stress encompassing both internal and external factors when they aged will increase the risk of acquiring myriads of diseases
A recent study reported that reduced level of histone demethylase and methionine metabolism can cause lethal effect to Drosophila including a glitch in cell proliferation apart from defect in wing development [76]
Summary
Ageing is generally defined as progressively getting older and classically coupled with senescence. Most studies on DNA methylation focused on carbon 5 of cytosine (5mC) in CpG islands This phenomenon is normally associated with heterochromatin and gene expression in organisms. Another study involving cells from mice and humans with progeroid syndromes showed DNA methylation profiles and histone modifications that epitomise those found in normal ageing organisms [16]. Dietary restriction is one of the most important factors in the ageing study This regime has been shown to extend the lifespan of mammals [45] and flies [46], among others. A recent study reported that reduced level of histone demethylase and methionine metabolism can cause lethal effect to Drosophila including a glitch in cell proliferation apart from defect in wing development [76]. Maintaining repressive heterochromatin and silencing the activity of transposable element can promote longevity by easing the DNA damage caused by genetic transposition
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