The old beta cell of the furrow will not spoil

Israeli discovery: aging can improve cell function

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Scientists from the Adassa Medical School at the Hebrew University made an unexpected discovery: the processes of cellular aging in pancreatic tissues not only do not worsen, but, on the contrary, improve the quality of their work – cells, losing their ability to divide and regenerate, increase insulin production (Cellular Aging Process Unexpectedly Enhances Insulin Secretion).

The fact that cellular senescence is an important and necessary mechanism for a healthy body has been known to medicine for a long time. This mechanism ensures the rejection of damaged cells, preventing them from dividing and generating malignant tumors. The aging of the body and the aging of cells are different things and are not necessarily related to each other. In some tissues (for example, muscle) there is no cellular aging at all, but this does not mean that these tissues do not begin to work worse with age.

In the tissues of the pancreas, the processes of cellular aging lead to a decrease in the number of beta cells that produce insulin, which explains the development of senile type II diabetes. However, as researchers from the Hebrew University found out, the reduction in the number of beta cells with healthy aging is compensated by an improvement in their work.

On the left – human beta cells grown in culture (blue).
The cells in the right picture were artificially aged,
as a result, they began to produce more insulin (colored red).
Photo: Dr. Ronny Helman

This discovery may have important applications in medicine. In the treatment of cancer, drugs that enhance cellular aging are already being used – perhaps similar drugs can also be used in the treatment of diabetes.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  09.03.2016