SHR # 2759:: Muscle Protein That Makes Vertebrates Fit Linked to Limiting Lifespan plus HRT For Dogs Improves Health - Dr. Gabriel Bever, Ph.D. - Dr. Qinchuan Wang, PH.D. - Linda Brent Ph.D. - Antagonistic pleiotropy is a foundational theory that predicts aging-related diseases are the result of evolved genetic traits conferring advantages early in life. Here we examine CaMKII, a pluripotent signaling molecule that contributes to common aging-related diseases, and find that its activation by reactive oxygen species (ROS) was acquired more than half-a-billion years ago along the vertebrate stem lineage. Functional experiments using genetically engineered mice and flies reveal ancestral vertebrates were poised to benefit from the union of ROS and CaMKII, which conferred physiological advantage by allowing ROS to increase intracellular Ca 2+and activate transcriptional programs important for exercise and Immunity. Enhanced sensitivity to the adverse effects of ROS in diseases and aging is thus a trade-off for positive traits that facilitated the early and continued evolutionary success of vertebrates. PLUS The practice of castration and ovariectomization is commonplace among veterinarians today. Dogs are spayed and neutered at very young ages removing all sex hormones which have important roles in the health and immune systems of dogs. We look at castrated male dogs who received testosterone replacement after being neutered to identify is any health advantages were conferred.