A team led by Prof. An Xu at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, discovered that the magnetotactic bacterium Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 can extend healthy lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans. The researchers further identified that the primary mechanism involves suppression of ferroptosis, a regulated cell death pathway.
The findings were published in Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
Magnetotactic Bacteria and Healthy Aging
Aging progressively diminishes physiological function and elevates the risk of chronic diseases. While pharmaceutical and genetic approaches have been investigated as anti-aging interventions, concerns regarding safety and clinical practicality persist.
Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) present a distinct alternative. Characterized by magnetosome structures, these microbes demonstrate excellent biocompatibility and have been explored for applications such as drug delivery and cancer therapy. However, their potential role in aging research has remained largely unexamined.
To address this gap, the research team evaluated the AMB-1 strain in C. elegans, a established model for aging studies.
Lifespan Increased by More Than 43%
Worms treated with AMB-1 exhibited significant lifespan extension, with an average increase of 43.39%. The intervention also supported the preservation of neurological function and intestinal integrity in aged specimens.
Blocking an Aging-Linked Form of Cell Death
The researchers investigated whether magnetosome production was essential to the observed effect, finding that the bacterium’s capacity to synthesize magnetosomes played a critical role in lifespan extension.
Comparative experiments revealed that wild-type AMB-1 conferred a more pronounced longevity benefit than reversibly non-magnetotactic RNM-AMB-1, whereas fully non-magnetotactic NM-AMB-1 failed to extend lifespan.
Additional experiments elucidated the mechanism, demonstrating that AMB-1 reduced iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation in worms, thereby suppressing age-associated ferroptosis.
Ferroptosis is a cell death pathway linked to iron accumulation and lipid oxidation. Genetic analysis revealed that several ferroptosis-related regulators, including ftn-1, bli-3, and ads-1, contribute to AMB-1-mediated lifespan control.
According to the researchers, these findings establish a novel microbial strategy for anti-aging intervention and provide foundational evidence supporting the broader application of magnetotactic bacteria in geriatric medicine.
