S-Allylcysteine Ameliorates Aging Features via Regulating Mitochondrial Dynamics in Naturally Aged C57BL/6J Mice

Scope S-Allylcysteine (SAC) is the most abundant organosulfur molecule derived from aged garlic. The effects ofSAC on improving Aging in naturally aged C57BL/6J male mice and mitochondrial dynamics in Caenorhabditis elegans and its underlying mechanisms is evaluated. Methods and Results When mice have attained reproductive senescence at 60 weeks of age, SAC is supplemented to 0.05% and 0.2% into their normal diet for 12 weeks. The results show that SAC could significantly improve the level of hepatic optic atrophy 1 (OPA1) mRNA, which is a key factor for mitochondrial fusion, and consequently elevated the mitochondrial biogenesis-related proteins sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1 alpha (PGC-1 alpha), thus ameliorating oxidative stress, such as malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in urine. Among the biochemical markers of aging, SAC significantly reduces liver galactosidase beta 1 (GLB1) and senescence-associated beta-galactosidase (SA-beta gal), which are induced by replicative senescence. The mitochondria with green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged transgenic strain SJ4103 C. elegans is incubated with 5 or 50 mu M SAC, and SAC treated groups maintain the linear morphology of mitochondria. Conclusion SAC regulates mitochondrial dynamics and ameliorated aging to a significant degree. This study also confirms that mitochondrial dynamics are a promising target for screening materials to combat aging and as a direction for anti-aging product development.

Automated summary

Scope S-Allylcysteine (SAC) derived from aged garlic significantly improves mitochondrial dynamics in naturally aged mice and Caenorhabditis elegans, reducing oxidative stress and delaying aging. This study confirms that mitochondrial dynamics are a promising target for combating aging.