It turns out that transplanting genes from over 100-year-old mice rejuvenates the hearts of mice!
The speed of aging varies greatly from person to person, as typified by words such as youthfulness and aging.
Factors such as smoking, alcohol, and lack of exercise have long been known to accelerate aging, but recent research on aging has revealed that genes have a significant impact on the speed of aging.
For example, a study conducted in 2021 revealed that people called superagers who live well beyond their average life expectancy have a “longevity gene” that does not exist in ordinary people.
People over the age of 105 had “genes of longevity not found in ordinary people”
Researchers at the IRCCS MultiMedica hospital have also long studied the effects of genes on longevity, and many people who are well into their 90s and beyond have a gene called BPIFB4, which is important for heart health. We discovered that a special mutation (LAV) occurs in the gene.
(*When a mutation (LAV) that leads to longevity occurs in the normal BPIFB4 gene, it becomes a longevity gene called LAV-BPIFB4.)
So the researchers decided to see what happens when this human longevity gene is given to old mice.
In the investigation, we first introduced a longevity gene (LAV-BPIFB4) into a harmless virus and infected the hearts of aged mice.
As a result, it was found that the heart function of old mice with human longevity genes was restored, promoting the formation of new blood vessels, and improving blood flow, cardiovascular conditions, and ventricular function.
At the cellular level, the number of senescent cells decreased, their ability to manufacture protein was restored, and the level of myocardial fibrosis, a type of aging phenomenon, decreased.
This result indicates that aged mice transfected with the human longevity gene show rejuvenation of the heart and greatly improved its structure and function.
When I converted the effect of rejuvenation into human life expectancy,Rejuvenation effect is equivalent to 10 years of humanIt became clear.
When the same manipulation was performed on middle-aged mice, it was also shown to stop the deterioration of new features.
The researchers next decided to test the effects of longevity genes on heart cells removed from elderly patients.
They showed that there was a rejuvenation of heart cells similar to what happened in mouse hearts.
This result indicates that the longevity gene also has an effect on various symptoms associated with aging.
Researchers conclude that in the future, gene therapy that incorporates longevity genes into patient cells and the use of proteins made from longevity genes will lead to the treatment of various diseases, including human heart disease. increase.