In regenerative medicine, an ideal treatment for patients whose muscles are damaged from lack of oxygen would be to invigorate them with an injection of their own stem cells.

The small intestine is one of the most important interfaces between the environment and our body. It is responsible for nutrient absorption but also forms a barrier against potentially harmful environmental cues. A research team, led by researchers from the Leibniz Institute on Aging—Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena, Germany, investigated the effects of aging and diet on the intestinal epithelium of young and old mice. They were able to show region-specific effects on the proteome and age-related impairments in adaptation to nutrient availability. Their results provide a complete picture of the spatial organization of the small intestine proteome in the mouse. The results were published in the journal Cell Reports.

The small intestine (SI) is one of the most important interfaces between the environment and our body. It has two major functions: it is responsible for absorbing nutrients from the food we eat and functions as a barrier to restrict the entry of harmful substances. The SI is a highly adaptive and dynamic organ, as it adapts to changes in nutrient intake or diet. The intestinal epithelium undergoes a process of continuous renewal, every 3–5 days.

Effects of aging and diet on the small intestine have already been investigated. It is known that aging leads to reduced absorption of nutrients by the epithelium thus contributing to malnutrition in elderly people. In addition, anatomical differences between different regions of the SI are well known, but so far, region-specific effects of aging and diet on the set of proteins that compose the intestinal epithelium had not been investigated.

The good side is that most people who are generally healthy won’t get ill from it! smile So let’s cure aging to avoid having these pandemies upcoming in the future!

Researchers have developed a way to modify an existing cancer drug with toxic side effects into something that is less toxic to blood platelets and more effective at removing harmful and inflammatory senescent cells, one of the reasons we age, from mice.

What are senescent cells?

As you age, increasing numbers of your cells enter into a state known as senescence. Senescent cells do not divide or support the tissues of which they are part; instead, they emit a range of potentially harmful chemical signals that encourage nearby healthy cells to enter the same senescent state. Their presence causes many problems: they reduce tissue repair, increase chronic inflammation, and can even eventually raise the risk of cancer and other age-related diseases.