Mitochondrial Transfer and Removing Senescent Cells

These two new developments look very promising, and I think that together they could effect a big jump in healthy human lifespan. Senescent cells not only don't divide, but the appear to actively create proteins that interfere with the workings of surrounding tissue. This coupled with the replacement of failing or damaged mitochondria, the cells powerhouses, brings some great news to the field of longevity.

A most interesting New Scientist article looks at hints of an existing mechanism by which age-damaged mitochondria could be repaired. Given the central role played by mitochondrial degeneration in aging, this would be a very big deal if it could be exploited: "Healthy cells seem to have shown an amazing ability to breathe new life into damaged ones by rejuvenating their defunct mitochondria. It is an extraordinary and controversial claim. But if confirmed it could offer a way to prevent a range of harrowing metabolic diseases that affect millions of people. Experts in mitochondrial research have yet to be convinced. They say the work purporting to show the effect has yet to be comprehensively peer-reviewed, and is so potentially ground-breaking that more evidence is needed."



View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mg18925364.200

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

[Via Longevity Meme]

Dealing with the accumulation of senescent cells is one of the seven Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senesence (SENS). This profile of researcher Judy Campisi at The Scientist gives some insight into where the mainstream of aging research is on this topic: "senescent cells not only exist in vivo but also accumulate in aging tissue. ... in culture, these nonreplicating cells are far from inert. They produce a plethora of unpleasant proteins that can, among other things, destroy the structural integrity of the tissue that surrounds them. ... The critical test would be to create an organism in which you prevent senescent cells from accumulating ... She and her colleagues are working on devising a system to do that test. They are developing a mouse in which an inducible promoter allows them to activate a gene that will selectively eliminate senescent cells."



View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.thescientist.com/2006/2/1/60/1/

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

[Via Longevity Meme]