Squirrel on guard of youth
It has previously been shown that klotho protein is associated with longevity and can neutralize unpleasant signs of aging. The more clotho protein is produced, the longer and healthier a person lives. The lack of this protein can lead to premature aging, as well as provoke the development of senile diseases. Interestingly, one of the brain structures – the vascular plexus – contains a much larger amount of clotho protein than the others. This structure is responsible for the production of cerebrospinal fluid, and also implements the functions of the blood-brain barrier, thereby isolating the brain from undesirable influences from the rest of the body.
It was this fact that became the starting point in the study of scientists from the Gladstone Institute, who decided to find out why it is in this structure that the main accumulation of cloths occurs. In the course of the study, they came to the conclusion that this protein performs the function of a guardian protecting the brain from the effects of the peripheral immune system. Scientists have found that with age in mice, the number of cloths in the vascular plexus decreases. Then they modeled the aging process by artificially reducing the number of cloths in the vascular plexus, which led to inflammation in this structure and activation of innate immunity cells in adjacent areas of the brain in response to the peripheral immune response. These data suggest that with age, or rather, with a decrease in the number of cloths, the selectivity of the blood-brain barrier decreases, which allows cells of the immune system and inflammatory molecules to penetrate brain tissues much more easily.
The researchers note that understanding exactly how and by what means kloto affects the cells of the immune system can also help in understanding the mechanisms of development of neurodegenerative disorders in older people. This is especially true of Alzheimer's disease, for which inflammation is one of the serious factors triggering the development of pathology.
Article by Zhu et al. Klotho controls the brain–immune system interface in the choroid plexus published in PNAS.
Anastasia Poznyak, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru / based on the materials of Gladstone Institutes: New Insights into the Aging Brain.