Posted on 04/14/2022 8:13:18 AM PDT by Red Badger
It's not quite the mythical fountain of youth but it is, perhaps, a start: Scientists have managed to engineer human skin cells to reverse 30 years of aging, resetting them to a much more youthful state in terms of certain molecular measurements.
While it's very early days for the research – so we shouldn't get carried away too quickly – the technique could play a major part in efforts to produce rejuvenative medicine that's able to undo some of the damaging consequences of our bodies getting older.
What makes the research particularly notable is that the skin cells were reprogrammed to be biologically younger while still keeping some of the functionality that made them skin cells in the first place.
Collagen production (in red) being restored in cells after reprogramming. (Fátima Santos, Babraham Institute)
The process used here builds on the Nobel Prize-winning work of Shinya Yamanaka in 2007, where Yamanaka was able to turn normal cells with a specific function into stem cells that can develop into any type. This meant, however, that the cell would lose its specific identity.
"Our understanding of aging on a molecular level has progressed over the last decade, giving rise to techniques that allow researchers to measure age-related biological changes in human cells," says biologist Diljeet Gill from the Babraham Institute in the UK and the study's lead author.
"We were able to apply this to our experiment to determine the extent of reprogramming our new method achieved."
The new method, dubbed 'maturation phase transient reprogramming', works more quickly (13 days, compared to 50 in the Yamanaka team's experiments) and stops before the stem cell state is reached, allowing the cell to retain its original identity and function.
A variety of measures, including the epigenetic clock (chemical tags that indicate age) and the transcriptome (gene readings produced by cells), were used to confirm that the skin cells had indeed been rolled back in biological age by three decades.
Collagen production is a key function of skin cells – useful for structuring tissue and healing wounds – and the youthful cells were observed to be still pumping the stuff out. In fact, they were producing more collagen than control skin cells that hadn't undergone the reprogramming process, and showed signs of being able to heal wounds more quickly.
"We have proved that cells can be rejuvenated without losing their function and that rejuvenation looks to restore some function to old cells," says Gill.
"The fact that we also saw a reverse of aging indicators in genes associated with diseases is particularly promising for the future of this work."
As of yet, the scientists don't fully understand how the mechanism behind maturation phase transient reprogramming works, but they think that certain key parts of the genome, which help controls cell identity, might be able to escape the reprogramming.
There are a huge number of age-related health issues to tackle as we get older – from heart disease to Alzheimer's – and further in the future, the research that's been outlined here could be useful in finding ways to tackle the progression of these issues.
One of the next steps will be to try and apply the techniques used here to other types of cells in the body, and to make sure the processes are completely safe before moving them out of the lab and into clinical trials.
"Eventually, we may be able to identify genes that rejuvenate without reprogramming, and specifically target those to reduce the effects of aging," says molecular biologist Wolf Reik from the Babraham Institute.
"This approach holds promise for valuable discoveries that could open up an amazing therapeutic horizon."
The research has been published in eLife.
I asked my doctor the other day if I could get a full body transplant. He said dryly, "You're not a candidate." At least he thinks wearing masks are a joke.
Old wine into new wineskins?
“Re-programmed” - isn’t that how the clot-shots were supposed to work.
Marketing Dept is telling us: Some people won’t care how soon they die, as long as they can look young when it happens. ... cackle cackle
Cher just bought a ticket to England.
My dermatologist has a sense of humor. A few years ago, I had an insect bite on my leg that become an infected lump. As he was preparing to freeze it off with liquid nitrogen. I asked him, “Doctor is this going to hurt”? He responded, “I won’t feel a thing”.
The sack may be new, but the innards are still old................
Excellent news! I’m in my late 60s. Yet I still hope to be a romantic lead in a major Hollywood movie some day. I think I’ll start on my Oscar acceptance speech right now.
(Cher just bought a ticket to England.)
If she could turn back time
She’d find a way...
(Cher just bought a ticket to England.)
If she could turn back time
She’d find a way...
ping
Chuckles.
😂
Uh oh. That doesn't sound good. What functionality was jettisoned?
...................
There’s a part of my body that I can smooth out in less than 30 seconds.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.