By Dave Andrusko
To date adult stem cells clearly present the best hope for treating a wide variety of diseases with embryonic stem cells lagging far back in the field. In between, at a respectful distance back, are so-called “induced pluripotent stem cells” (iPSCs).
Ever since 2007, it’s been known that it is possible to coax adult cells (usually skin) to revert back in time to a status virtually indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells. (Additional refinements are made virtually every few months.) Recent research out of the University of Wisconsin concludes that iPSCs are 99% identical to embryonic stem cells.
If, at least in theory, these iPSCs can become any type of cell in the body, attaining the golden prize of regenerative medicine would on the horizon: diseased organs or tissue repaired or replaced with healthy, lab-grown cells.
But using the adult cells of older people (who would need this the most) has proven difficult, if not impossible. Marlowe Hood, writing for the AFP news service, explained that “The barrier was cellular senescence, a natural process linked to ageing that can trigger cell death when certain mechanisms within the cell become too degraded to function properly.”
However a study appearing this week in the peer-reviewed journal Genes & Development says scientists at the Institute of Functional Genomics at the University of Montpellier have transformed age-worn cells in elderly people (from ages 74 through 101) into rejuvenated stem cells that were “indistinguishable” from those found in embryos.
Without wading too far into the technical minutiae, “Several critical markers of ageing in cells were ‘reset,” including the size of telomeres, the tiny protective caps found on the ends of chromosomes that wear down with age,” Hood reported.
“This is a new paradigm for cell rejuvenation,” Jean-Marc Lemaitre, the main architect of the study, told Hood, opening “a new path toward regenerative medicine, especially for the elderly.”
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