Researchers say they have found a growth hormone in the colon that helps damage DNA, which aides in the aging process. The finding could lead to new therapeutic approaches to aging-associated disorders like cancer.
Whereas circulating pituitary growth hormones decline with age, non-pituitary growth hormones, or npGH, increase with age. That means the colon tissue growth hormone helps initiate the first stages of tumor development and influence the aging process, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center researchers said in research published in the journal Cell Reports.
At the core of the issue is npGH blocking a certain protein from protecting DNA from damage. The protein, p53, is a tumor suppressor that helps repair DNA, but it can also awaken growth hormones.
Aging is a highly complex process with thousands of genes influencing our health, which poses a challenge for researchers looking to explain and target the underlying processes that lead to declining health. Researchers from the Babraham Institute’s Epigenetics research program have published a map of genetic interactions in C. elegans in iScience which can be used to identify new genes that influence lifespan and that have equivalent genes in humans.
Researchers use simple model organisms like the nematode worm C. elegans to gather information that can inform studies on human aging because many genes are shared or have counterparts in other species. However, there are some conceptual and technical challenges that apply to the study of aging in model organisms. Dr. Casanueva, Group leader in the Epigenetics research program explains: “The way researchers usually study gene function is by disrupting its function and observing what happens. The disruption of some genes causes worms to live a very long-life. In this way, researchers have found the so-called ‘longevity-pathways.” However, the complexity underlying aging means that it is not enough to focus on individual genes. We need to study the overall organization of longevity by generating a systems-wide view.”
In collaboration with the physicist Marta Sales Pardo at University of Rovira i Virgili, Dr. Casanueva and her lab set out to cast a wider net when it comes to studying longevity genes. Together they created the largest network of gene regulatory interactions that are found in a long-lived type of C. elegans. In this network, the relationships between genes are represented by lines, and represented in different layers based on the flow of information between genes. The middle of the web represents the genes with the most influence, in this case, they receive complex input signals and de-code them, and connect to an output layer of genes. The researchers found that most key genes for longevity belong to transcription factors and metabolic genes.
In this video Dr. Lustgarten goes into more detail on what he tracks and how he does the analysis of the results. He emphasizes the importance of running your own tests, to not only look at one biomarker but to then combine that marker with other biomarkers, looking for what is optimal for you.
Dr. Michael Lustgarten is a scientist at the Tufts University Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston, Massachusetts. His research currently focuses on the role of the gut microbiome and serum metabolome on muscle mass and function in older adults. In this series of interviews Dr Lustgarten shares his experience with his rigorous n of 1 experiment over the last 7 years and shows how we or anyone can conduct a similar trial by tracking food, exercise and sleep, measure results and derive relationships between them, with a goal of extending our healthspan.
Dr Lustgarten’s channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT1UMLpZ_CrQ_8I431K0b-g.
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The Forever Healthy Foundation and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging today announced a new partnership to advance early-stage discoveries at the Institute that show promise to reverse physiologic aging in humans. The focus will be on cutting-edge research aimed at the repair of age-related damage at the cellular and molecular level, a hallmark of the aging process. Forever Healthy will commit up to $1 million per year for five years to drive this innovation. The funding aims to advance early-stage research with high translational potential in order to speed up the transition from lab to product.
German entrepreneur and longevity pioneer Michael Greve founded his humanitarian Forever Healthy initiative with the mission of accelerating the development of therapies to impede the aging process and the diseases that accompany it. This mission is in perfect alignment with the Buck Institute, the first independent biomedical facility in the world focused solely on the biology of aging.
𝘼𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙫𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛… See more.
An experimental vaccine successfully eliminated aging cells from the bodies of mice, helping to prolong the rodents’ lives and reverse some signs of age-related disease.
The researchers say the experiment is a step on the road to a similar vaccine for humans, but could it really work?
“I think the data was extremely strong… I think it’s a really good proof-of-principle,” Paul Robbins, a professor of biochemistry, molecular biology and biophysics and an associate director of the Institute on the Biology of Aging and Metabolism at the University of Minnesota, said of the mouse study. In theory, the same approach would work in humans.
Boston-based biotech Vincere Biosciences is on a mission to combat neurodegenerative disease by improving the quality of the mitochondria in our cells. The company was spun out from AI drug discovery company NeuroInitiative in 2018 after its platform identified that modulation of certain enzymes to repair mitochondrial health “may slow or stop the progression of Parkinson’s disease and other age-related disorders.”
In addition to seed funding, Vincere has received grants from the National Institutes of Health and Michael J Fox Foundation, and the company is now gearing up for a Series A funding round in early 2022.
Longevity. Technology: Mitochondria’s role in longevity is a hot topic. Often referred to as the “powerhouse of the cell”, these miniature organs within our cells play a key role in providing the energy needed for growth, repair and rejuvenation. As we age, our mitochondria begin to decline in function, and this decline is linked to a range of age-related diseases. We caught up with Vincere’s co-founder and CEO Dr Spring Behrouz to find out how her company aims to tap into the potential of these small but mighty biological players.
https://skl.sh/isaacarthur03211 Perhaps the most sought after technology is not the ability to extend life, but to restore it once it is gone. We will examine the technological options that may be available to us in the future.
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Listen or Download the audio of this episode from Soundcloud: Episode’s Audio-only version: https://soundcloud.com/isaac-arthur-148927746/resurrection. Episode’s Narration-only version: https://soundcloud.com/isaac-arthur-148927746/resurrection-narration-only.
Credits: Resurrection. Science & Futurism with Isaac Arthur. Episode 282; March 18, 2021 Produced, Written, and Narrated by Isaac Arthur.
Editors: Evan Schultheis. Jason Burbank. Keith Blockus. Matthew Campbell. S. Kopperud.
Cover Art: Jakub Grygier https://www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier.
Monash University, Australia scientists have discovered an enzyme that is key to why exercise improves our health. Importantly this discovery has opened up the possibility of drugs to promote this enzyme’s activity, protecting against the consequences of aging on metabolic health, including type 2 diabetes.
The proportion of people worldwide over 60 years old will double in the next three decades and by 2031, more than six million Australians will be over 65 years old. The incidence of type 2 diabetes increases with age so this aging population will also result in an increased incidence of the disease globally.
One of the main reasons for the increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes with age is the development of insulin resistance, or an inability for the body to respond to insulin, and this is often caused by reduced physical activity as we age.
