Gene therapy for longevity and targeted disease treatment.
Gene therapy has the power to extend healthy longevity and treat a litany of organ-specific conditions.
The eye is one outstanding candidate.
Although the German scientist Hanns Kaiser published a number of articles in the 1970s relating inflammation to diseases in the elderly (Kaiser, 1971), the last 20 years have seen a burst in the study of the aging immune system, inflammation and the associated diseases. One of the most iconic studies in aging and immunity was the OCTO and NONA longitudinal study of healthy 80â90 year old people that took place in Jonkoping Sweden in the 1990s (Wikby AJ and Ferguson, 2003). These studies were unique for several reasons. First, they were longitudinal studies of elderly individuals. Second, the 80-and 90-year-olds were very healthy. As people age, they naturally acquire more disease and it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish the effects of disease vs. aging on the immune parameters being measured. To overcome these confounders, the OCTO and NONA immune longitudinal study was a community population-based study that continually and carefully evaluated individual health parameters. Study participants had normal cognition, were not on drugs that would influence their immune responses, and were non-institutionalized (Wikby AJ and Ferguson, 2003). Several important findings resulted from these studies; 1) the establishment of an Immune Risk Profile (IRP) based on altered CD4/CD8 T cell ratios (decreasing CD4+ T cell numbers and often increasing CD8+ T cell numbers) (Wikby et al., 1998) and 2) germane to this review, the discovery of a link between elevated plasma IL-6 levels, mortality and IRP in the very old (Wikby et al., 2006).
An optimal immune response requires the appropriate interaction between the innate and the adaptive arms of the immune system as well as a proper balance of activation and regulation. After decades of life, the aging immune system is continuously exposed to immune stressors and inflammatory assaults that lead to immune senescence (Salama et al., 2014; Aiello et al., 2019; Di Micco et al., 2021). In this review, we will discuss inflammaging in the elderly, specifically concentrating on IL-6 and IL-1ÎČ in the context of T lymphocytes, and how inflammation is related to mortality and morbidities, specifically cardiovascular disease and cancer. Although a number of studies suggests that the anti-inflammatory cytokine TGF-ÎČ is elevated in the elderly, heightened inflammation persists. Thus, the regulation of the immune response and the ability to return the immune system to homeostasis is also important. Therefore, we will discuss cellular alterations in aging, concentrating on senescent T cells and CD4+ CD25 + FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in aging.
Inflammaging is a phenomenon of inflammatory pathogenesis characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation, and is a significant risk factor for morbidity and mortality in elderly people. Claudio Franceschi first coined the term âinflammagingâ in the manuscript âInflamm-aging.
Would you like to hear more news stories like this one? If so, head over to LifespanNews for more longevity news, science, and advocacy episodes! Visit https://www.youtube.com/lifespannews.
âŒâŒ Description, sources, and more below âŒâŒ
This is a big deal, kids.
For the past five years, Silicon Valley biotech Rejuvenation Technologies has been quietly working on a therapeutic platform to extend telomeres in the human body, with the goal of boosting longevity and healthspan. Yesterday, the company emerged from stealth with a healthy seed funding round of $10.6 million, led by Khosla Ventures.
Rejuvenation has developed a synthetic mRNA-based approach to restoring telomeres to a âhealthy lengthâ â capable of reversing a decade of telomere shortening in a single dose. The mRNA produces telomerase, an enzyme that plays a critical role in maintaining the length of telomeres. Following positive preclinical results in lung and liver disease indications, the company is now preparing the path towards its first in-human trials.
Continue reading “Telomere-boosting mRNA therapeutic turns back the aging clock” »
Telomerase helps maintain telomere length in our cells, influences how our bodies age, and why we develop diseases like cancer. If cells had enough telomerase, telomeres might not shorten at all. But in most somatic cells, itâs present in very low amounts â only enough to slow the telomere shortening down.
This is part of a short series of videos where we explore telomeres, telomere length and telomerase, as well as the impacts they have on our health.
âPreserve health, prevent disease, prolong healthspan,â begins the mission statement of the Kitalys Institute. Lofty goals indeed from the not-for-profit organisation behind the annual Targeting Metabesity conference and a range of initiatives to translate longevity science into genuine public health gains.
Longevity. Technology: The vast majority of companies developing therapeutics in the longevity field are adopting strategies that involve targeting specific indications rather than aging itself. And well they might, because there is currently no precedent for drugs targeting aging at regulatory bodies like the FDA. Kitalys wants to change that, and we caught up with the instituteâs founder Dr Alexander âZanâ Fleming to find out more.
An endocrinologist by training, Fleming is well qualified to take on the regulators. He spent more than a decade at the FDA, where he led the medical reviews that resulted in approval of drugs including metformin, as well as the first statin, insulin analogue and PPAR agonist.
A research team headed by Professor Jacob Hanna at the Weizmann Institute of Science has created complete models of human embryos from stem cells cultured in the lab â and managed to grow them outside the uterus up to day 14. As reported today in Nature, these synthetic embryo models had all the structures and compartments characteristic of this stage, including the placenta, yolk sac, chorionic sac and other external tissues that ensure the modelsâ dynamic and adequate growth.
Longevity. Technology: Cellular aggregates derived from human stem cells in previous studies could not be considered genuinely accurate human embryo models, because they lacked nearly all the defining hallmarks of a post-implantation embryo. In particular, they failed to contain several cell types that are essential to the embryoâs development, such as those that form the placenta and the chorionic sac. In addition, they did not have the structural organization characteristic of the embryo and revealed no dynamic ability to progress to the next developmental stage.
Given their authentic complexity, the human embryo models obtained by Hannaâs group may not only provide an unprecedented opportunity to shed new light on the embryoâs mysterious beginnings, but open the door to new technologies for growing transplant tissues and organs.
Weathered or unhealthy skin is emerging as a major risk factor for almost every single age-related disease, from Parkinsonâs to type 2 diabetes.
In new research published in BMC Medicine, the authors recruited a large cohort of participants in order to assess how plant-based foods affect aging trajectories [1].
Previous research has shown that consumption of plant-based foods is associated with healthy aging [2,3]. It can also help to decrease the risk of mortality [4], prevent the development of chronic diseases [5,6], and improve neurological health, such as by lowering the risk of dementia [7] and cognitive impairment [8].
This new study aimed to determine the influence of a plant-based diet on the aging trajectory of the middle-aged Asian population. Researchers recruited over 10,000 people 50 years and older in Taiwan. Participants provided health data four times during the eight years after enrollment, underwent physical examinations, and filled out relevant questionnaires.
Recently, we spoke to Shai Efrati MD, Chair of Aviv Clinicsâ Medical Advisory Board and Founder and Director of the world-leading Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, about the longevity and healthspan benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). The Aviv Medical Program is designed for individuals experiencing cognitive and physical decline because of a variety of conditions, including stroke, post-COVID and age-related cognitive decline, Aviv also has an increasing number of clients who wish to improve their cognitive and physical performance and increase their healthspan.
One of Avivâs patients is Patti Finnegan, a senior living in The Villages in Florida, and we sat down with her to find out what HBOT entails for the patient.
Longevity. Technology: At Longevity. Technology, we often cover therapies and treatments that have been developed or launched, discussing the science behind them and the possible results for the patient. What is less common, however, is to hear from the patients themselves â how did they find the experience and has it made a difference? What starts in a test tube or a white board ends up in a person, so it is important to retain a focus on the end user; after all, while patient population data is important, improving outcomes for actual people is the key goal behind longevity science â real people living longer, healthier lives.
