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Overexpression of Atg5 in mice activates autophagy and extends lifespan

Pyo JO, Jung YK et al. · 2013 · Nature Communications · Atlas ID PYO2013

What this study shows

Mice engineered with extra copies of the autophagy gene Atg5 lived 17% longer and were leaner and more insulin-sensitive.

Abstract

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Autophagy has been implicated in the ageing process, but whether autophagy activation extends lifespan in mammals is unknown. Here we show that ubiquitous overexpression of Atg5, a protein essential for autophagosome formation, extends median lifespan of mice by 17.2%. We demonstrate that moderate overexpression of Atg5 in mice enhances autophagy, and that Atg5 transgenic mice showed anti-ageing phenotypes, including leanness, increased insulin sensitivity and improved motor function.

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At a glance

Evidence type A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Mouse (Atg5-overexpressing transgenic)); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type4 - Animal Study
Model systemMouse (Atg5-overexpressing transgenic)
JournalNature Communications
Year2013
Peer reviewedYes
Record last updated2026-08-22
SourceDOI 10.1038/ncomms3300 · PMID 23939249 · Free full text (PMC3753544)

Extracted findings

InterventionGenetic (Atg5 overexpression)
TargetAutophagy (Atg5)
ModelMouse (Atg5-overexpressing transgenic)
EffectUbiquitous Atg5 overexpression enhances autophagy and extends median mouse lifespan by ~17%
DoseAtg5 cDNA inserted into pCAGGS vector driven by cytomegalovirus enhancer and chicken β-actin promoter, expressed ubiquitously in transgenic mice.
Sample sizen=65 for WT mice and n=70 for Atg5 Tg mice (line 25, combined sex); n=25 for WT and n=30 for other Atg5 Tg lines (43, 47, 471).
Effect sizeMedian lifespan of Atg5 Tg mice (line 25) was 119 days (~17%) longer than WT (P <0.001); maximum lifespan was 900±34 days for Atg5 Tg vs 781±22 days for WT (P <0.01).
Limitationsnot stated

In the Atlas

Related topics

LongevityAtg5Autophagy

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Cite this paper

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Pyo, J. O., et al. (2013). Overexpression of Atg5 in mice activates autophagy and extends lifespan. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3300

@article{PYO2013,
  author       = {Pyo, J. O. and Jung, Y. K. and others},
  title        = {{Overexpression of Atg5 in mice activates autophagy and extends lifespan}},
  journal      = {Nature Communications},
  year         = {2013},
  doi          = {10.1038/ncomms3300},
  note         = {PMID: 23939249},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper. 

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record PYO2013) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/PYO2013/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_PYO2013,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record PYO2013},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/PYO2013/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}