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Inhibition of the nutrient-responsive mTOR signaling pathway, by either genetic or pharmacologic means, extends the life span of invertebrates. A U.S. multi-institutional team fed mice rapamycin, an immunosuppressant molecule that inhibits the mTOR pathway and that has antineoplastic properties.
Rapamycin feeding (which was begun after about 70% of the normal 3-year life span of the mice had passed) led to an approximately 30% extension of life span. When, in a second group of mice, feeding was started about a quarter of the way into their normal life span, the life-extending effects of rapamycin were even greater. Similar results were noted in different strains of mice (of both sexes) and in three different laboratories, indicating that the…