Publication highlights

An international collaboration led by Crick Group Leader Marcus Ralser has shown that mixed communities of young and old yeast cells can co-operate and exchange resources, increasing the lifespan of all the cells. They focused on the processes used by cells to exchange metabolites, which are produced when cells create energy, and include amino acids. When young yeast cells released amino acids into the environment, these could be taken up by older cells, and the whole community of cells lived longer. One of the amino acids, methionine, was of particular importance as it is needed to kickstart the process of building proteins and is also important in many cellular processes. Uptake of methionine changed the metabolism of the older cells, affecting key anti-ageing pathways and also led to the release of metabolites with protective properties into the environment, which could then be taken up by other cells. If applicable to higher organisms, the concept underlying these results could add a new dimension to studying cells in health and disease.