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The source of the article below is at
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/16/californian_immortality_research/">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/16/californian_immortality_research/</a>
.<br>
<br>
This seems to be further understanding of the process that was
demonstrated by cross-connecting the blood vessels of various aged
mice, which found that old mice receiving young factors healed more
rapidly. The Research Channel web site has video on demand of the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Holiday Lectures on aging (and related
things) that describes the young-helps-old transfusion experiment.
That lecture mentioned the Notch gene.<br>
<br>
Anyone know how to get the Nature article before it appears at my local
library?<br>
<br>
<br>
Stefano Vaj wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:580930c20806161417j488a7fb6m2b79c3f2c320670a@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">"Boffins" in inglese inglese vuol dire "scienziati"...<br>
<br>
<h2>Californian boffins find Elixir of Eternal Youth</h2>
<h3 class="Standfirst">For mice only. Catherine Zeta Jones not
involved</h3>
<div class="Byline">By <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://forms.theregister.co.uk/mail_author/?story_url=/2008/06/16/californian_immortality_research/"
title="Send email to the author">Lewis Page</a> <small
class="MoreByAuthor">$B"*(B <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://search.theregister.co.uk/?author=Lewis%20Page"
title="More stories from this site by Lewis Page">More by this author</a></small></div>
<div class="Date"><small>Published Monday 16th June 2008 09:56 GMT</small></div>
<hr id="UnderDate">
<p>Mouse-molesting boffins in California have used
biochemical signals to rejuvenate elderly, knackered bodily tissues in
a fashion normally only achievable by youngsters. However, the
scientists insist that they have not yet achieved an immortality drug,
and if they had it would only be for mice.</p>
<p>"We're not at a point where we're ready to inject ourselves with
[this stuff]" said Dr Morgan Carlson.</p>
<p>Carlson's research was overseen by Irina Conboy, associate prof at
UC Berkeley. There doesn't seem to be any doubt that the two boffins
are in fact looking for an immortality drug: Conboy has <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.citris-uc.org/system/files?file=conboy_stem_cell_aging.pdf"
target="_blank">described her research</a> as "Pathways to the
Fountain of Youth".</p>
<p>The long-sought elixir of eternal life may not yet be in our
grasp,
but Conboy and Carlson have managed something promising enough to get
them published in <em>Nature</em>, perhaps the most prestigious
boffinry journal.</p>
<p>It seems that when we're young, the stem cells in our bodies
constantly repair and reinvigorate us. When we get old, this stops
happening and pretty soon people are going through your stuff.</p>
<p>"We don't realize it, but as we grow our bodies are constantly
being
remodeled," according to Conboy. "We are constantly falling apart, but
we don't notice it much when we're young because we're always being
restored. As we age, our stem cells are prevented, through chemical
signals, from doing their jobs."</p>
<p>Apparently one can revitalise stem cells by putting them in the
right chemical environment. "When old tissue is placed in an
environment of young blood, the stem cells behave as if they are young
again," according to the Berkeley press release - in a process not
unlike that undergone by wrinkly old Hollywood stars placed in an
environment of Catherine Zeta Jones.</p>
<p>Essentially, the Californian researchers were able to persuade
muscle tissues in some mice that they were young again. We didn't
entirely follow how they did it.</p>
<p>"Interestingly, activated Notch competes with activated pSmad3 for
binding to the regulatory regions of the same CDK inhibitors in the
stem cell," said Professor Conboy.</p>
<p>That certainly is interesting.</p>
<p>"We found that Notch is capable of physically kicking off pSmad3
from the promoters for the CDK inhibitors within the stem cell's
nucleus, which" - as any fool would realise - "tells us that a precise
manipulation of the balance of these pathways would allow the ability
to control stem cell responses."</p>
<p>Diddling with Notch and pSmad3 levels using "an established method
of RNA interference" allowed Conboy and Carlson to manipulate TGF-beta
proteins and fire up the dormant stem cells of a group of elderly mice.</p>
<p>The octogenarian murines "showed levels of cellular regeneration
that were comparable to their much younger peers", apparently. But
people shouldn't just start swigging down Notch, pSmad3 and TGF-beta at
random. Cellular regeneration, out of hand, is sometimes just another
name for cancer.</p>
<p>Still, the Californian brainboxes seem cautiously optimistic.</p>
<p>"When we are young, there is an optimal balance between Notch and
TGF-beta," according to Conboy. "We need to find out what the levels of
these chemicals are in the young so we can calibrate the system when
we're older. If we can do that, we could rejuvenate tissue repair for a
very long time."</p>
One thing's for sure - all this could have serious consequences for
the mighty Japanese robotics industry, currently tooling up to make
billions looking after the increasingly wrinkly populace of the Land of
the Rising Sun. The Berkeley elixir-of-youth researchers had best watch
their backs.<br>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="60">--
David Harris, Palo Alto, California.
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