Washington: US researchers have successfully reversed the hallmarks of ageing in mice using a technique called cellular reprogramming. The approach extended the lifespan of mice with a premature aging disease called progeria by 30 per cent, Xinhua news agency cited a US journal Cell report as saying.
"Our study shows that aging may not have to proceed in one single direction," Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a professor at the Salk Institute's Gene Expression Laboratory and senior author of the study, said.
"It has plasticity and, with careful modulation, aging might be reversed," said Izpisua Belmonte.
Cellular reprogramming is a process that involves inducing the expression of four genes, Yamanaka factors, to allow scientists to convert any cell into induced pluripotent stem cells, which are capable of dividing indefinitely and becoming any cell type present in our body.
However, previous efforts involving cellular reprogramming resulted in mice that either died immediately or developed extensive tumours.
In the new study, the Salk team used a partial cellular reprogramming approach, which induced expression of Yamanaka factors for just two to four days, to avoid tumours or death and improve aging characteristics.
When they examined skin cells from mice with progeria using this approach, the cells showed reversal of multiple aging hallmarks without losing their skin-cell identity.
Encouraged by this result, the team used the same method to treat live mice with progeria, which delivered "striking" results. Compared to untreated mice, the reprogrammed mice looked younger; their cardiovascular and other organs improved and most surprising of all, their lifespan went from 18 weeks to 24.
