Your morning coffee may do more inside the body than increase alertness. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have identified a cellular mechanism through which caffeine can influence processes linked to ageing, including energy regulation, stress responses and DNA damage.
The study, led by researchers from Queen Mary’s Cellular Ageing and Senescence laboratory, found that caffeine activates AMPK, an ancient cellular energy-sensing system. The findings were published in Microbial Cell on 24 June 2025 in a research paper titled Dissecting the cell cycle regulation, DNA damage sensitivity and lifespan effects of caffeine in fission yeast.
AMPK helps cells respond when energy supplies are under pressure, adjusting processes that support cellular balance. The researchers found that caffeine indirectly activated components of this pathway in fission yeast, helping explain earlier observations that caffeine could affect cell growth and lifespan in the organism.
The team used Schizosaccharomyces pombe, commonly known as fission yeast, as a model for studying fundamental biological processes. Although it is a single-celled organism, it shares important cellular mechanisms with humans, making it useful for investigating how cells respond to energy and environmental stress.
The research is particularly interesting because AMPK is also present in human cells and is involved in metabolic regulation. It is already an important area of research in relation to conditions such as diabetes and the biology of ageing.
However, the findings should not be interpreted as proof that drinking coffee extends human life. The experiments were conducted in yeast, and mechanisms identified in a model organism need to be investigated further before their significance for human health can be established.
The researchers suggest that understanding how caffeine activates AMPK could eventually help scientists investigate ways of influencing the pathway more directly, potentially through medicines or lifestyle interventions.
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