Understanding the Role of ztor in Aging-related Diseases Using the Zebrafish Model

Abstract

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a 289 kDa serine/threonine protein kinase of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-related family is known for its role in regulating lifespan and the aging process in humans and rodents. Aging in zebrafish very much resembles aging in humans. Aged zebrafish often manifest with spinal curvature, cataracts and cognitive frailty, akin to human age-related phenotypical effects such as osteoarthritis, dwindling vision and cognitive dysfunction. However, the role of the zebrafish orthologue of mTOR, ztor, is less defined in these areas. This review paper discusses the tale of growing old in the zebrafish, the physiological roles of ztor in normal developmental processes and its involvement in the pathogenesis of aging-related diseases such as metabolic disorders and cancers.

What programs the size of animal cells?

“…Aside from being a central regulator of cell growth, the mTORC1 pathway is also one of the key regulators of organismal aging. In fact, mTOR remains one of the few evolutionarily conserved pathways whose inhibition was found to extend the lifespan of all model organisms tested thus far, including yeast ( Kaeberlein et al, 2005 ), C. elegans ( Vellai et al, 2003 ) , Drosophila ( Kapahi et al, 2004 ), zebrafish ( Khor et al, 2019 ), and mouse ( Harrison et al, 2009 ). Together, these studies pose an interesting association between cell size and animal lifespan as both have links to the mTOR pathway.…”

The effects of aging on rod bipolar cell ribbon synapses

“…The short life span of zebrafish provides a unique advantage to study the progression of aging using markers comparable to those used in humans. For example, aged zebrafish often display spinal curvature, cognitive impairment, and visual impairments such as cataracts [13, 14].…”