Recently, in a report published in the magazine Aging Cell, Spanish scientists found that rare mutations in the apolipoprotein B (APOB) gene are related to long life (>100 years).
Researchers selected three Spanish families (of which at least two siblings are about 100 years old) and sequenced their genes, hoping to discover rare variants that may be associated with extreme longevity.
It is worth noting that among all long-lived siblings in all three families, only one gene was found to carry a rare mutation, namely apolipoprotein B.
Apolipoprotein B is a longevity gene because it is related to hypo-β lipoproteinemia, which is a hypothetical "longevity syndrome", and also because the protein encoded by apolipoprotein B and the related protein APOE Play a role in lipid transport, and some genetic mutations in APOE are also related to longevity.
This work is the first step to identify the genetic basis of extreme longevity for certain family members. It also points out that cholesterol and lipid metabolism are important factors for human longevity.