Scientists have rejuvenated human cells for 60 years

With age, cells accumulate changes that affect the functioning of genes and the condition of tissues. Studying these processes helps to understand why the body ages and how age-related changes are associated with the development of diseases. Scientists have found a way to significantly rejuvenate human cells in the laboratory by turning them into neural stem cells. How the researchers achieved this result is described in the Izvestia article.

The cells have become more than 60 years younger

Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn, the University of Bonn and the Rhenish-Westphalian Technical University of Aachen have transformed human blood cells into neural stem cells with a molecular age of less than 20 years. The source material was obtained from a man in his 80s. Thus, according to scientists, the cellular age has been reduced by more than 60 years.

The results of the work are published in the journal Aging Cell. We are not talking about rejuvenation of the whole body and not about a way to reverse human aging. The researchers studied the changes that occur to cells during their transformation in the laboratory.

How scientists changed cells

To produce neural stem cells, the team used red blood cell precursors, immature cells that later form red blood cells. The method allowed them to be directly transformed into neural stem cells, without first going through the stage of pluripotent stem cells. This intermediate stage usually allows cells to gain the ability to transform into different types of body cells.

The transformation took place gradually. The scientists observed the process for more than 100 days, which allowed them to track how the cells change as they acquire a new state.

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Rejuvenation was measured by DNA changes

To estimate the molecular age of the cells, the researchers used an epigenetic clock. They analyze chemical modifications of DNA that are associated with the regulation of gene activity. Such changes do not change the DNA sequence itself, but they allow us to evaluate some age-related features of cells.

According to the team, about 50 days after the start of the transformation, the cell counts corresponded to rejuvenation for about 60 years. After the process was completed, the molecular age signature of the obtained neural stem cells corresponded to an age of less than 20 years.

What are rejuvenated cells for?

Neural stem cells can help scientists study the processes associated with the aging of the nervous system. Using such a model, it is possible to study how age-related changes affect cells, and to study diseases whose risk increases with age, including Alzheimer's disease.

An important area of further work is to find out what mechanisms allow cells to return to a younger molecular state and whether this knowledge can be used to study factors that accelerate or slow down aging. However, the results of a laboratory experiment by themselves do not mean that a method has been developed to rejuvenate the body or treat age-related diseases in humans.