Perhaps this is the cure for aging
Biologist Skulachev – about the prolongation of youth, mutations and the harm of oxygen
Anastasia Ksenofontova, RT
A cure for old age may appear in pharmacies in two or three years. Maxim Skulachev, director of the Mitoengineering Research Institute of Moscow State University, said this in an interview with RT. According to him, work on the drug was started in Russia several years ago. Innovative biotechnology is based on the method of blocking free radicals in mitochondria using a special substance. According to the interlocutor of RT, in the foreseeable future, a person will be able to extend the period of youth of the body twice.
– Recently, there have been a lot of publications in the media that humanity will soon overcome aging. How much does this correspond to reality?
– More often it's media noise. Serious scientists in general have not dealt with the problem of aging for a long time – it was indecent. For many, the fight against aging is like the invention of a perpetual motion machine: an absurd and hopeless thing. But the paradigm changed ten years ago, including thanks to our project.
– Why do we age, and when does this process start in the body?
– There is no answer to the question "Why are we getting old?". There is a hypothesis according to which our genes have a program that starts in a person at 12-14 years old. Obvious signs of aging appear by the age of 30, for example, muscle aging. The peak of a person's muscular form is 25 years old, at 14 years old a person has a peak of immunity. Since immunity is the cornerstone of our body, we believe that after puberty, that is, the peak of immunity, the aging process begins.
Why is this happening? It may seem that we are given a certain charge of health until the age of 14, and then it is spent for about 70 years. From the point of view of biology, this is very strange. We believe that this is not the case and a special program is launched in our body at the age of 14, the purpose of which is to "bring us to the grave." There are several ways through which this malicious program operates, one of them is the gradual production of poison inside the cell, in the mitochondria – our energy stations. For example, when we drink sweet tea and inhale oxygen, the mitochondria store the energy we need for life as a result of the oxidation of sugar with oxygen. But in the same mitochondria, part of the oxygen turns into a terrible poison – free radicals that damage the cell, this can also lead to DNA mutation. We will intervene in this process with the help of our developments.
– In what way?
– Substances with which we work and which were invented by Academician Vladimir Petrovich Skulachev (Maxim's father. – RT), consist of two components. One is the ion that delivers the substance inside the mitochondria. American biochemists called them Skulachev ions. An antioxidant is "attached" to such an ion, which neutralizes free radicals. The substance was named SkQ. As a result, we get a tool that can directly regulate the amount of free radicals in mitochondria. These radicals, as we believe, play a major role in the aging of the body and the development of many age-related diseases.
– So far, only eye drops and several cosmetics have been created on the basis of Skulachev ions to preserve the youth of the skin. Why did you choose these drugs?
– We started giving small doses of SkQ to aging animals – a certain type of rat, to see if their life expectancy would increase. One of the effects of this experiment was that the animals did not go blind with age. This inspired us to create eye drops. They have passed all stages of certification and clinical trials in Russia and the USA. Since 2015, they have appeared in pharmacies. They have two indications for use so far: dry eye syndrome and cataract. Recently we found out that some ladies use our anti-aging skin drops. But they are not suitable for these purposes – there are very few SkQ. And we made a cosmetic product in which the dosage of Skulachev ions is 40 times greater. This allows the antioxidant to penetrate into the deep layers of the epidermis and reach living cells. However, in order to seriously engage in cosmetology, you need your own line of cosmetics.
We didn't really do this, because Academician Skulachev forbade us to be distracted by cosmetics and demanded that we work on medicines for the whole body, not just for the skin. We are working on a "systemic action" drug, and it will be a medicine.
– So you are not considering a contract with a cosmetics company?
– Not yet.
– A year ago, an article was published in the journal Aging, which stated that Stockholm University successfully tested your drug to slow down aging on mice. The SkQ1 oral solution is currently undergoing clinical trials. When can the "cure for old age" appear in pharmacies?
– Perhaps this is the cure for old age. It will appear in pharmacies in two or three years.
We have now completed the first phase of trials on healthy volunteers, but additional research is needed. First we will test the drug on elderly people, and then we will lower the age limit.
Interestingly, the drug has no side effects yet – after a day it is completely eliminated from the body. The reception can be stopped at any time without consequences. But to achieve the desired effect, the drug must be used constantly. It is necessary that the substance is always in the mitochondria.
– Your project is treated differently. Both positive and negative reviews about your work appear in the press. How do you react to criticism?
– We are criticized on the basis of popular articles. After reading a "light version of our work" in some media, journalists focus on the most provocative statements such as "we will play football until 300 years old", etc. Such statements do not stand up to serious scientific criticism. More than 200 papers have already been published about SkQ in international scientific journals – it is much more difficult to criticize them.
– How do you feel about the use of stem cells? What are the advantages of the antioxidant approach compared, for example, with gene therapy?
– I am very wary of gene therapy. Unlike her, our approach is reversible. But if you have changed the genes in your body, then it is forever. "Rewind everything back" in case of side effects will not work. Of course, the most cardinal way to combat aging is to "replace" genes in the body, as it happened in nature in naked diggers (rodents of the digger family. – RT). But there is no such technology yet.
– Speaking of naked diggers, a whole colony of these rodents appeared at Moscow State University, the first in Russia. Why are these animals so interesting for researchers?
– Diggers are the cornerstone in proving that life without old age is possible. This creature is ageless. His relatives live two or three years, and he lives ten times longer. At the same time, mortality does not increase with age in naked diggers, as does the frequency of senile diseases. If not superman, then supermouse – he does not suffer from cancer, has amazing regenerating abilities.
We have been studying them for only a year and a half, primarily their mitochondria. The diggers took root, brought offspring. The most important thing is that we have not observed a single case of senile pathology during this time. If you believe the scientific literature, then we will not register anything with them for the next 10-15 years either, but this needs to be checked.
– Your project has several sponsors, including businessman Oleg Deripaska. Why did he stop funding research?
– It coincided with the crisis of 2008. He lost a lot of money, and he was not up to supporting risky scientific research. But we did not disappear – we received investments from two private investors and the Rusnano Corporation, which took over half of the investment burden until 2016.
– How expensive is your research?
– On the one hand, they are very expensive, on the other hand, all investments in our project are the salary of one average striker of the top club of the Russian Premier League for five years.
– Today, many wealthy people are simply obsessed with rejuvenation issues. It was probably not difficult to find an investor?
– Of course, their interest in this idea helped us look for money. A smart person understands that you can't buy health. But there is also a flip side of the coin: if you have money, you are constantly approached by a lot of half-witted enthusiasts who allegedly found the secret to fighting aging and they only need $ 50 million to set up production.
– You said that the cure for aging will arrive in pharmacies in two or three years. And will it be affordable for ordinary mortals?
– Yes, it will. Although I can't say exactly how much it will cost yet. But I am sure that its price will be reasonable and everyone will be able to afford to buy this drug.
– Do Western companies show interest in your developments?
– There is a serious interest from foreign pharmaceutical companies. First of all – to the eye drops. Because they have completed a full cycle of clinical trials.
– Do you receive support for your research at the state level?
- yes. MSU played an exceptional role in our project, since all investors were somehow found with the help of the university management, and first of all, the rector. Several times we had severe crises related to the lack of money. And Victor Sadovnichy always came to our aid.
– Do you have direct competitors in the West?
– Now the Americans have started a big project based on mitochondrial antioxidants. They managed to attract huge investments. They have also launched a series of clinical trials. However, they do not directly talk about aging, focusing on concomitant diseases. These are our competitors.
– How will the drug you are developing change the life of mankind?
– It can greatly reduce the incidence of age-related diseases, although it will not completely rid humanity of them. Also, if our hypothesis is confirmed, it will give a chance to prolong youth at least twice. Now it is believed that the extreme mark of the body's youth is 45 years. Thus, it will be possible to extend youth to 90 years.
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