An international team of researchers has found that in both mice and humans, a high-salt diet shrinks the population of a type of gut bacteria called Lactobacillus; as a result, Th-17 immune cells grow in number; these immune cells have been linked with high blood pressure, although the exact mechanism of how they contribute to hypertension is not yet known. Lactobacillus murinus. Image credit: RIKEN. Scientists have long known that a high-salt diet...
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![KLFs are a subfamily of zinc finger transcriptional regulators with highly characterized roles in proliferation, survival, metabolism, and response to stress. Hsieh et al demonstrate that KLFs are critical determinants of aging, influencing both lifespan and age-related deterioration, and are broadly required for lifespan extension in all four mechanistically distinct longevity models tested. Importantly, the team provides evidence that these effects are mediated by KLF regulation of autophagy (autophagy was assessed using a GFP::LGG-1 translational reporter; GFP-positive puncta [red arrow] were counted in 30-150 total hypodermal seam cells in 10–20 animals) and are conserved in a mammalian system via a functional ortholog, KLF4. Together, the findings provide a role for the KLFs as a transcriptional regulatory point in longevity. Image credit: Hsieh et al, doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00899-5.](https://cdn.sci.news/images/2017/10/image_5324-Aging-Pathway-195x110.jpg)
