Yes, please let's keep some focus here. The very essence of this thread, you could say, is how to boost NAD+ while avoiding NAMPT. So far we have two approaches: NMN and NR. Now the interview I linked to earlier today speaks of spectacular succes by involving TFAM. Perhaps it sinks in better if a paste a quote:
'Now your lab showed that there is a very exciting gene engineering alternative involving TFAM (Transcription Factor A, Mitochondrial). Why is TFAM important, and what have you done with it?
Church: TFAM is a key regulatory protein that is in this pathway of NMN and NAD+. It allows cells to manufacture the NMN precursor on their own, so you don't have to manufacture it outside the cell and then try to get it into the cell from outside. Ideally, you don't want to have to take NMN for the rest of your life, you want to fix the body's ability to make its own NMN and buy yourself rejuvenation for at least a few decades before you have to worry about NMN again. In order to accomplish this on a single cell level, we've used CRISPR to activate a TFAM activator, and we made it semi-permanent.
Fahy: With this technique, you were able to increase TFAM levels in the cell by 47-fold. This resulted in restored ATP levels, increased NAD+, and an increased NAD+/NADH ratio. It also increased total mitochondrial mass and reversed several other age-related changes.
Church: Yes. We have a number of ways to measure mitochondrial function and age-related losses of those functions. When we activated TFAM, these changes returned to what you would expect of a younger cell state. And we built this anti-aging ability into the cell, so it's self-renewing and eliminates the need to take pills or injections. (Italics mine)
However, I looked up TFAM this afternoon and did find nothing as yet about involvement in NADproduction. The info I saw referred to a role more 'downstream'. Anyone aware of useful sources?