Longevity-Associated Transcription Factor ATF7 Promotes Healthspan by Suppressing Cellular Senescence and Systematic Inflammation

Aging is characterized by persistent low-grade systematic inflammation, which is largely responsible for the occurrence of various age-associated diseases. We and others have previously reported that long-lived people (such as centenarians) can delay the onset of or even escape certain major age-related diseases. Here, by screening blood transcriptome and inflammatory profiles, we found that long-lived individuals had a relatively lower inflammation level (IL6, TNFα), accompanied by up-regulation of activating transcription factor 7 (ATF7). Interestingly, ATF7 expression was gradually reduced during cellular senescence. Loss of ATF7 induced cellular senescence, while overexpression delayed senescence progress and senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) secretion. We showed that the anti-senescence effects of ATF7 were achieved by inhibiting nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling and increasing histone H3K9 dimethylation (H3K9me2). In Caenorhabditis elegans, ATF7 overexpression significantly suppressed aging biomarkers and extended lifespan. Our findings suggest that ATF7 is a longevity-promoting factor that lowers cellular senescence and inflammation in long-lived individuals.