Scientists have identified cells that regulate the aging process
Scientists have discovered that stem cells in the hypothalamus manage the body’s aging process. The discovery could lead to new strategies to prevent age-related diseases and even prolong life.
Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have discovered that com stem cells in the hypothalamus cast, kt re is part of the inter zgowia, control aging process in mice. The results of their research were published in the pages of a prestigious journal Nature.
Hypothalamus rze controls important processes in the body. Regulates m.In. head d, thirst, diurnal rhythm, sleep, growth and development processes or body temperature. In 2013, U.S. researchers discovered that to these vital functions of the hypothalamus rza also include the aging process. Now the researchers have identified the responsible group of neuronal com stem sharks. This tiny population of com rek is responsible for the formation of new neurons m zgu.
– Our research indicates that the number of neuronal com hypothalamic stem cells rza naturally declines during life, and this decline accelerates the aging process. But we discovered also that the effects of this loss are not irreversible. By supplementing these com rek or producing molecules that re they produce, it is possible to slow down or even reverse the Price tive aspect of in aging throughout the body – said Professor Dongsheng Cai, one of the authors of the In research.
By studying whether the com stem cells in the hypothalamus casts play a key role in the degeneration of the body, the researchers observed the aging process in healthy mice. The number of neuronal stem cells stem records in the hypothalamus of mice began to decline when the mice reached about 10 months of age, which by their standards was at the threshold of old age. Several months before the usual signs of aging appeared. When the mice reached the age of dw ch years, most of these com rek disappeared.
The researchers, to be sure, took these stem cells rki regulate the aging process of the body, knocking out rczo inches the action of neuronal com stem cells in middle-aged mice. – Our interference significantly accelerated the aging of these rodents in cf compared to control mice. These animals with damaged com stem cells died earlier than the others – admitted Cai.
The researchers also tested what happens when they introduce new com stem cells to m zg In middle-aged mice, in which rych previously established cono their action. Injected Also these rki to m zg In healthy but old rodents. In both cases, the treatment slowed down or reversed the cil some re effects of aging.
Cai and his team discovered that the com hypothalamic stem cells rza appear to exert an aging-inhibiting effect by releasing molecules called microRNAs. They are not involved in protein synthesis, but play a key role in regulating gene expression. MicroRNAs are found inside tiny particles called exosomes, which re stem cells of the hypothalamus The rs are released into the fluid of the m gloving mice.
The researchers isolated exosomes containing microRNAs from the hypothalamus rz rz cells stem cells and injected them into the fluid of m zg-spinal dw ch groups of mice: those in middle-aged, kt rych com stem cells of the hypothalamus Rows were destroyed and healthy middle-aged mice. The treatment significantly slowed the aging process in both groups of animals, as measured by tissue analysis and test in behavioral measures including assessment of muscle endurance, coordination, social behavior and cognitive ability.
Scientists pr They are currently identifying the individual lne populations of microRNAs, and perhaps other factors secreted by these cells stem cells, which re are responsible for effects that inhibit or reverse the body’s aging process. This is the first step toward possibly slowing down the aging process and treating the chori b age-related.
