Research Perspective|Volume 3, Issue 3|pp 304—310

Regulation of life span by mitochondrial respiration: the HIF-1 and ROS connection

Ara B. Hwang¹, Seung-Jae Lee^1,^2,³

¹Division of Molecular and Life Science
²School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering
³World Class University Information Technology Convergence Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Kyungbuk, 790-784, South Korea

Received: February 26, 2011Accepted: March 6, 2011Published: March 6, 2011

Copyright: © 2011 Hwang et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

A mild reduction in mitochondrial respiration extends the life span of many species, including C. elegans. We recently showed that hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is required for the acquisition of a long life span by mutants with reduced respiration in C. elegans. We suggested that increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced in the respiration mutants increase HIF-1 activity and lead to this longevity. In this research perspective, we discuss our findings and recent advances regarding the roles of ROS and HIF-1 in aging, focusing on the longevity caused by reduced respiration.