Is the oxidative stress theory of aging dead?
Open accessAbstract
Currently, the oxidative stress (or free radical) theory of aging is the most popular explanation of how aging occurs at the molecular level. While data from studies in invertebrates (e.g., C. elegans and Drosophila) and rodents show a correlation between increased lifespan and resistance to oxidative stress (and in some cases reduced oxidative damage to macromolecules), direct evidence showing that alterations in oxidative damage/stress play a role in aging are limited to a few studies with transgenic Drosophila that overexpress antioxidant enzymes. Over the past eight years, our laboratory has conducted an exhaustive study on the effect of under- or overexpressing a large number and wide variety of genes coding for antioxidant enzymes. In this review, we present the survival data from these studies together. Because only one (the deletion of the Sod1 gene) of the 18 genetic manipulations we studied had an effect on lifespan, our data calls into serious question the hypothesis that alterations in oxidative damage/stress play a role in the longevity of mice.
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Whole body deletion of the SOD1 gene causes reduced lifespan in mice that died by "aging dead," suggesting that the physiological level of SOD1 is required to prevent premature aging.
“On the other hand, the effect of excessive ROS on total lifespan was implicated in a study, which showed that whole body deletion of the SOD1 gene caused a reduced lifespan in mice that died by “aging dead,” suggesting that the physiological level of SOD1 is required to prevent premature aging [138].”
From Ultraviolet Radiation‐Induced Skin Aging: The Role of DNA Damage and Oxidative Stress in Epidermal Stem Cell Damage Mediated Skin Aging (2016) · cites this paper as [138]
Over- or under-expression of a wide number of genes regulating antioxidant enzymes: only one had an effect on lifespan.
“In support of this, a study by Perez et al. investigated the effect of over-or under-expression of a wide number of genes regulating antioxidant enzymes and found that only one had an effect on lifespan [51].”
From Oxidative Stress and Ageing: The Influence of Environmental Pollution, Sunlight and Diet on Skin (2017) · cites this paper as [51]
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References 103 · Cited by 604
- Authors
- Pérez, V. I., Bokov, A., Remmen, H. V., Mele, J., Ran, Q., Ikeno, Y., & Richardson, A.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Richardson, Arlan
- Venue
- Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-10
- Volume
- 1790
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1005-1014
- ISSN
- 0304-4165 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2789432
- OpenAlex
- W2083718982
- Cited by
- 604
- References
- 103
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 42 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 51 · 2013: 63 · 2012: 58
- FWCI
- 5.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG023843, P30AG13319, R01AG015908, P01 AG19316, P01AG020591, R37AG026557, P01AG019316, P30AG013319)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative Stress
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Redox biology and oxidative stress
- Keywords
- free radical theory of aging, antioxidant enzymes, lifespan, longevity, oxidative damage, SOD1, transgenic Drosophila, gene overexpression, gene deletion, mice
- MeSH terms
- Aging, Animals, Catalase, Humans, Mice, Transgenic, Superoxide Dismutase, Survival Analysis, Mice, Knockout, Oxidative Stress, Mice
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