The Nobel prize-winning stem cell technology may slow down aging

Posted by Cathy Miller on January 6th, 2020

Seeking for Eternality or at least a prolonged life is the dream of kings of all ages, and how to delay the adverse effects of aging and maintain the health of the elderly is an important topic that contemporary medicine tries to overcome. Recent studies have shown that a Nobel Prize-winning technology might be the key to slowing down aging!

Adults with premature aging

The study, revealing the anti-aging potential of this Nobel Prize winning technology, stems from the study of patients with premature aging. These patients were aging at a rapid speed. In their 40s, the body will experience aging symptoms in 80-year-olds. For the uncommonly high speed of aging, this disease has become an important model for studying aging.

This rare premature aging disease is known as Werner Syndrome. It is a recessive genetic disease in which a patient mutates in a gene called WRN, which plays an important role in maintaining DNA replication, folding and repair in cells. The researchers found that abnormalities in WRN protein function led to a significant reduction in genome stability. More genetic mutations have occurred, and a large number of gene fragments have been deleted and recombined.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have studied the blood cells of 18 patients with Werner syndrome and found that the methylation of DNA in these cells is also very different from the control group. Methylation modifications are an important indicator of epigenetics. Although they do not affect the sequence of DNA, they have the ability to silence or enhance the activity of specific genes. Based on the methylation marker of DNA, researchers can construct an "epigenetic clock" that predicts the state of cellular aging. Studies of patients with Werner syndrome have shown that their "epigenetic clock" is much faster forward than the control group.

So, are these changes in epigenetic modification the "cause" or "effect" of Werner syndrome, and can editing or clearing these epigenetic markers reverse the aging process and the diseases associated with it?

The Nobel Prize-winning stem cell technology can erase the mark of aging

In 2006 and 2007, a study published by a team of Japanese scientists led by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, showed that by introducing four genes into any type of adult cell, they can be transformed into stem cells with embryonic differentiation. These stem cells can then be differentiated into other cell types. This technology has become one of the core technologies of stem cell research. Dr. Yamanaka Yamanaka also won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012. The stem cells produced by this technique are called induced pluripotent stem cells (ipsC).

Interestingly, this technique erases all epigenetic markers carried by adult cells and recalls their epigenetic clock back to the pre-natal embryo period!

Since the use of this technique can erase the epigenetic marks carried by adult cells, can they also make the cells of patients with premature aging "rejuvenate"?

To this end, the researchers first examined the role of the Yamanaka stretch factor in an in vitro cell culture model. Fortunately, in another cell culture model of premature aging (HGPS), reprogramming aging cells with the Yamanaka stretch factor can rejuvenate these premature aging cells! HGPS patients have similar symptoms to patients with Werner syndrome, except that premature aging symptoms occur in children. Reprogramming HGPS patient cells can restore telomere length, gene expression characteristics and oxidative stress levels.

However, when the researchers used the Yamanaka stretch factor in cell reprogramming in the mouse model of HGPS, they suffered setbacks. Although mice can rejuvenate for a short time, they will die in a few days. Complete reprogramming of cells in mice not only causes cancer, but also eradicates all the original functions of the cells.

Turn back to the aging clock

The method of zeroing the epigenetic clock proves to be infeasible, so what happens when the clock pointer is only turned back a few degrees?

In 2016, scientists at the Salk Institute in California came up with a method. They partially reprogrammed the mouse cells by briefly using low doses of the Yamanaka stretch factor. They found that the aging rate of the premature aging mouse model decreased significantly. Not only did the epigenetic modification of cellular DNA significantly reduce, but these prematurely aging mice were healthier and more active, extending life span by 30% compared to untreated mice. When the researchers used the same technique to treat normal mice, their pancreas and muscle tissue regained youth as well. The study was published in the Cell.

Using advanced CRISPR gene editing techniques, the team also demonstrated that they can add or remove epigenetic markers in mouse models. Using the precise positioning of CRISPR, they can bring proteins that activate genes to specific genes and regulate their activity. In a mouse model of diabetes, kidney disease, and muscular dystrophy, they have been able to successfully reverse disease symptoms, suggesting that the system does indeed "fine-tune" epigenetic markers. Today, they are preparing to enter the symptoms of aging-related diseases.

Scientists are still conducting more in-depth research to understand the relationship between epigenetic markers and aging, and the mechanism by which the Yamanaka stretch factor reverses the symptoms associated with aging. From the perspective of epigenetics, the aging process of different organs of the human body has obvious commonalities.

To turn back epigenetic clock or reprogram cells is becoming a major focus for scientific research! At one time, we thought that we could not make any changes to the genes we got from our parents and that the pace of aging would not slow down because of our will. However, the latest scientific advances show us nothing is impossible. Maybe one day, we’ll finally realize the dream of “being immortal”.

About the author

Ever since 2007, Creative Peptides has started to supply a wide spectrum of cosmetic peptides, anti-aging peptides, which all could be used in research of aging and anti-aging. Apart from that, with remarkable expertise in the process development and the manufacturing of bioactive peptides, Creative Peptides also provides other popular peptides such as cell penetrating peptides, MHC peptide, isotope labeled peptides, glucagon like peptides, ghrelin peptides, antimicrobial peptides, surface plasmon resonance imaging and more.