{"id":14514,"date":"2025-06-25T21:15:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T21:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/14514\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T21:15:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T21:15:12","slug":"caffeine-gives-cells-an-energy-boost-against-aging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/14514\/","title":{"rendered":"Caffeine Gives Cells an Energy Boost Against Aging"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Summary: <\/strong>New research shows that caffeine may help slow ageing at the cellular level by activating AMPK, a key energy-sensing pathway. Using fission yeast as a model for human cells, scientists found that caffeine boosts AMPK activity, which helps cells manage stress, repair DNA, and regulate growth.<\/p>\n<p>AMPK is also targeted by metformin, a diabetes drug under investigation for lifespan extension. These findings offer new insight into how caffeine interacts with ancient cellular systems that protect against age-related damage and disease.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>AMPK Activation:<\/strong> Caffeine boosts AMPK, a cellular \u201cfuel gauge\u201d tied to longevity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ancient Pathway:<\/strong> The energy-stress network influenced by caffeine is over 500 million years old.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Yeast Model:<\/strong> Findings in fission yeast reveal mechanisms likely conserved in human cells.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong>Queen Mary\u2019s University London<\/p>\n<p><strong>A new study from the Cellular Ageing and Senescence laboratory at Queen Mary University of London\u2019s Cenfre for Molecular Cell Biology, reveals how caffeine\u2014the world\u2019s most popular neuroactive compound\u2014might do more than just wake you up. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The study in the journal\u00a0Microbial Cell\u00a0shows how caffeine could play a role in slowing down the ageing process at a cellular level.<\/p>\n<p>  <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"799\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/caffeine-cell-aging-neuroscice.jpg\" alt=\"This shows a man drinking coffee and DNA.\"  \/> Interestingly, AMPK is also the target of metformin, a common diabetes drug that\u2019s being studied for its potential to extend human lifespan together with rapamycin. Credit: Neuroscience News<\/p>\n<p>Caffeine has long been linked to potential health benefits, including reduced risk of age-related diseases. But how it works inside our cells, and what exactly are its connections with nutrient and stress responsive gene and protein networks has remained a mystery\u2014until now.<\/p>\n<p>In new research published by scientists studying\u00a0fission yeast\u2014a single-celled organism surprisingly similar to human cells\u2014researchers found that caffeine affects ageing by tapping into an ancient cellular energy system.<\/p>\n<p>A few years ago, the same research team found that caffeine helps cells live longer by acting on a growth regulator called\u00a0TOR\u00a0(Target of Rapamycin). TOR is a biological switch that tells cells when to grow, based on how much food and energy is available.<\/p>\n<p>This switch has been controlling energy and stress responses in living things for over 500 million years.<\/p>\n<p>But in their latest study, the scientists made a surprising discovery:\u00a0caffeine doesn\u2019t act on this growth switch directly. Instead, it works by activating another important system called AMPK, a cellular fuel gauge that is evolutionarily conserved in yeast and humans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen your cells are low on energy, AMPK kicks in to help them cope,\u201d explains Dr Charalampos (Babis) Rallis, Reader in Genetics, Genomics and Fundamental Cell Biology at Queen Mary University of London, the study\u2019s senior author. \u201cAnd our results show that caffeine helps flip that switch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, AMPK is also the target of\u00a0<strong>metformin<\/strong>, a common diabetes drug that\u2019s being studied for its potential to extend human lifespan together with rapamycin.<\/p>\n<p>Using their yeast model, the researchers showed that caffeine\u2019s effect on AMPK influences how cells grow, repair their DNA, and respond to stress\u2014all of which are tied to ageing and disease.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese findings help explain why caffeine might be beneficial for health and longevity,\u201d said Dr John-Patrick Alao the postdoctoral research scientist leading this study.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd they open up exciting possibilities for future research into how we might trigger these effects more directly\u2014with diet, lifestyle, or new medicines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, the next time you reach for your coffee, you might be doing more than just boosting your focus\u2014you could also be giving your cells a helping hand.<\/p>\n<p>About this genetics and aging research news<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Author: <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#234f0d44514255465063524e564f0d42400d5648\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lucia Graves<\/a><br \/><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/qmul.ac.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Queen Mary\u2019s University of London<\/a><br \/><strong>Contact: <\/strong>Lucia Graves \u2013 Queen Mary\u2019s University of London<br \/><strong>Image: <\/strong>The image is credited to Neuroscience News<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Original Research: <\/strong>The findings will appear in Microbial Cell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary: New research shows that caffeine may help slow ageing at the cellular level by activating AMPK, a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1081,827,14931,14932,815,210,14933,829,831,14934,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-14514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-aging","9":"tag-brain-research","10":"tag-caffeine","11":"tag-cellular-aging","12":"tag-genetics","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-mitochondria","15":"tag-neurobiology","16":"tag-neuroscience","17":"tag-queen-mary-university-of-london","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114746079852775346","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}