barbara
04-25-2011, 11:22 AM
FIGHT AGING! NEWSLETTER
April 25th 2011
Stem cell function, necessary to maintain tissue, declines with age.
This most likely a part of the evolved balancing act between
suppression of cancer and the need to keep tissues repaired and
working - as you grow older, forms of molecular damage accumulate,
increasing the risk of cancer resulting from the normal operations of
cellular proliferation. That balance can already be shifted in mice in
very beneficial ways, giving both less cancer and longer lives. While
these are the early days yet, in our future lies a fusion of the
fields of cancer research and stem cell science that will do the same
for humans: "Adult stem cells exist in most mammalian organs and
tissues and are indispensable for normal tissue homeostasis and
repair. In most tissues, there is an age-related decline in stem cell
functionality but not a depletion of stem cells. Such functional
changes reflect deleterious effects of age on the genome, epigenome,
and proteome, some of which arise cell autonomously and others of
which are imposed by an age-related change in the local milieu or
systemic environment. Notably, some of the changes, particularly
epigenomic and proteomic, are potentially reversible, and both
environmental and genetic interventions can result in the rejuvenation
of aged stem cells. Such findings have profound implications for the
stem cell-based therapy of age-related diseases."
April 25th 2011
Stem cell function, necessary to maintain tissue, declines with age.
This most likely a part of the evolved balancing act between
suppression of cancer and the need to keep tissues repaired and
working - as you grow older, forms of molecular damage accumulate,
increasing the risk of cancer resulting from the normal operations of
cellular proliferation. That balance can already be shifted in mice in
very beneficial ways, giving both less cancer and longer lives. While
these are the early days yet, in our future lies a fusion of the
fields of cancer research and stem cell science that will do the same
for humans: "Adult stem cells exist in most mammalian organs and
tissues and are indispensable for normal tissue homeostasis and
repair. In most tissues, there is an age-related decline in stem cell
functionality but not a depletion of stem cells. Such functional
changes reflect deleterious effects of age on the genome, epigenome,
and proteome, some of which arise cell autonomously and others of
which are imposed by an age-related change in the local milieu or
systemic environment. Notably, some of the changes, particularly
epigenomic and proteomic, are potentially reversible, and both
environmental and genetic interventions can result in the rejuvenation
of aged stem cells. Such findings have profound implications for the
stem cell-based therapy of age-related diseases."