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Wednesday, March 1, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Ore. lawmaker Genes help protect against stress “This class of LLC genes in the OSU College of Science looks to By David Staut2 appear to become active and and College of Engineering, respond to some of the stresses and co-senior author on the replace C O R VA L L I S — most common in aging, such study, some LLC genes are Researchers at Oregon State as cellular and molecular known to play roles in seques- University have discovered damage, oxidative stress, or tering improperly “folded” state bird that a subset of genes involved even some disease states,” proteins or helping them Correspondent SALEM (AP) — An Oregon lawmaker says the current state bird is unorigi- nal, and instead wants to replace it. The Statesman Journal reports that state Sen. Fred Girod sponsored a resolution to replace the Western mead- owlark as Oregon’s state bird with the osprey. The Stayton Republican says the meadowlark is also the state bird of Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming, mak- ing it unoriginal. He also says the meadowlark is no longer commonly seen in Oregon, making it an inap- propriate choice. Girod says the osprey can be found throughout Oregon and better captures the state’s spirit. Salem Audubon Society president Ray Temple says meadowlarks are declin- ing and could use the extra attention of being the state bird. in daily circadian rhythms, or the “biological clock,” only become active late in life or during periods of intense stress when they are most needed to help protect critical life functions. The findings, made in research done with fruit flies and published today in Nature Communications, are part of a unique stress response mech- anism that was previously unknown. These genes may help to combat serious stresses asso- ciated with age, disease, or environmental challenges, and help explain why aging is often accelerated when the biological clock is disrupted. This group of genes, whose rhythmic activity late in life had not previously been understood, were named “late- life cyclers,” or LLCs, by for- mer OSU graduate student and lead author of the study, Rachael Kuintzle. At least 25 such genes become rhythmic with age, and the function of some of them remains unclear. said Jadwiga Giebultowicz, a professor in the OSU College of Science, co-senior author on the study and international expert on the mechanisms and function of the biological clock. “Aging is associated with neural degeneration, loss of memory and other problems, which are exacerbated if clock function is experimentally disrupted. The LLC genes are part of the natural response to that, and do what they can to help protect the nervous system.” The increased, rhythmic expression of these genes dur- ing times of stress, scientists said, are another example of just how biologically impor- tant circadian rhythms are, as they help to regulate the activity of hundreds of genes essential to the processes of life. And as aging brings with it a host of new problems, the LLC genes become more and more active. Acco rd i n g t o Dav i d Hendrix, an assistant professor refold. This could help prevent formation of protein aggre- gates that can lead to age- related neurodegeneration. Discovery of LLC genes may provide ... t2e answer to w2y t2e disruption of circadian clocks accelerates aging symptoms. — David Hendrix “Discovery of LLC genes may provide a missing link, the answer to why the dis- ruption of circadian clocks accelerates aging symptoms,” Hendrix said. The study also showed that intense stress at any point in life can cause some of the LLC genes to spring into action. “In experiments where we created artificial oxidative stress in young fruit flies, the LLC genes were rhythmically activated,” said Eileen Chow, an OSU faculty research assis- tant and co-author. “Some of these same genes are known to be more active in people who have cancer. They appear to be a double-edged sword, necessary during times of stress but possibly harmful if activated all the time.” Circadian rhythms, which are natural to an organism but synchronized by the light/dark cycle of a 24-hour day, are so important to life that the same genes controlling biological processes have been traced from fruit flies to humans, retained through millions of years of evolution. These genes are found throughout the nervous sys- tem and peripheral organs, and affect everything from sleep to stress reaction, feed- ing patterns, DNA repair, fer- tility and even the effective- ness of medications. People with routine dis- ruptions of their circadian rhythms and sleep patterns have been found to have a shorter lifespan and be more prone to cancer. This research was sup- ported by the National Institutes of Health. Please Connect Your Ray’s All Access Rewards Program Account to Furry Friends Foundation It’s FREE and we get 1% back on your purchases. It’s an easy and great way to donate! With your Access Rewards account information in hand (the number is on the back of your card), you can call, email or visit Ray’s to connect to Furry Friends Foundation. • Call 541-412-0005 • Email AllAccess@ckmarket.com • Visit the Ray’s Customer Service Counter and ask to connect your account number to Furry Friends for the All Access Community Rewards Program. 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