To rejuvenate the body, it is enough to remove old cells
For more than a decade, experts have been of the opinion that aging cells damage neighboring cells, which leads to the development of inflammation of the surrounding tissues and the development of many age-related diseases. The results of a study conducted by scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, working under the guidance of Professor Jan van Deursen, confirmed this hypothesis. Moreover, it turned out that selective destruction of cells that have lost the ability to divide (being in the phase of "physiological aging") can prevent the appearance of many symptoms of aging of the body, ranging from atrophy of muscle tissue and ending with the development of cataracts.
Having entered the phase of physiological aging, cells lose the ability to divide and renew aging tissues. To clarify their supposed role in the development of age-related diseases, scientists identified aging cells in the body of genetically modified mice susceptible to premature aging using the p16 Ink4a biomarker specific to such cells. Throughout the life of the animals, they were injected with a drug that selectively induces the death of these cells by activating the membrane-perforating enzyme caspase 8. In cells that did not have time to age, this enzyme remained inactive.
The results obtained were more than impressive. In all tissues whose aging cells contained caspase 8 activated by the drug, a slowdown in the aging process was observed.
The picture from the article in Nature shows mice of the same age. The left one, from the control group, looks like a decrepit old lady.
The right one, who received the caspase 8 activator, showed no signs of aging.
These mice did not have cataracts, and their comparison with the same transgenic animals that did not receive the drug that causes the death of aging cells revealed higher indicators of muscle mass, physical strength and the amount of subcutaneous fat. More importantly, the removal of aging cells at later stages of animal life slowed down the progression of existing senile diseases.
The results of the work not only confirm the theory of the toxicity of aging cells for the body, but also indicate the possibility of creating a drug that selectively affects these cells. Currently, researchers are starting a new work devoted to studying the effects of selective removal of aging cells on mice whose aging process proceeds at a normal rate.
Article by Darren J. Baker et al. The clearance of p16 Ink4a-positive senescent cells delays aging-associated disorders is published in the journal Nature.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Mayo Clinic: Mayo Researchers Discover Tactics to Delay Age-Related Disorders.
07.11.2011