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Updated: Dec 28, 2025

Author Spotlight: Emerging Technologies and Advanced Tools for Decoding Metabolomics Data Analysis
Published on: November 10, 2023
The Aging Metabolome-Biomarkers to Hub Metabolites
Rishi Sharma1, Arvind Ramanathan1,2
1Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA, 94945, USA.
Abstract:
Aging biology is intimately associated with dysregulated metabolism, which is one of the hallmarks of aging. Aging-related pathways such as mTOR and AMPK, which are major targets of anti-aging interventions including rapamcyin, metformin, and exercise, either directly regulate or intersect with metabolic pathways. In this review, numerous candidate bio-markers of aging that have emerged using metabolomics are outlined. Metabolomics studies also reveal that not all metabolites are created equally. A set of core "hub" metabolites are emerging as central mediators of aging. The hub metabolites reviewed here are nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, reduced nicotinamide dinucleotide phosphate, α-ketoglutarate, and β-hydroxybutyrate. These "hub" metabolites have signaling and epigenetic roles along with their canonical roles as co-factors or intermediates of carbon metabolism. Together these hub metabolites suggest a central role of the TCA cycle in signaling and metabolic dysregulation associated with aging.
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