BIOTECHNOLOGY
LIFE EXTENDING LACE CAPS
Protective structures called telomeres located at the ends of our chromosomes have often been likened to the plastic caps that stop our shoelaces from fraying. Essential to genetic stability, they play a crucial role in preserving the youthful state of our cells and bodies. Yet telomeres shorten with age.
Once they reach a critical short length, cells either become senescent or die – one of the molecular causes of ageing and age- related diseases. So could hyper-
long telomeres help to protect against ageing and ageing- related diseases? A 2016 study led by Maria Blasco and colleagues at the Spanish National Research Centre (CNIO) created mice containing some ‘fully functional’ cells with hyper-long telomeres - up to twice the length of normal telomeres.
Analysis of these tissue cells at 0, 1, 6 and 12 months of life revealed their telomeres also shortened over time as before, but the cells accumulated less DNA damage and had a greater capacity to repair themselves (Nat. Commun., doi: 10.1038/ncomms11739).
Mice with these extra
long telomeres were also less likely to develop tumours than
normal mice. Importantly, the researchers point out that the cells with hyper-long telomeres are derived from stem cells - without needing to modify the genes, which could cause cancer. The results show that pluripotent stem cells with hyper-long telomeres may give rise to organisms that remain young for longer at the molecular level, they reported. The researchers said that the
next step would be to generate ‘a new species of mice in which the
telomeres of all the cells are twice as long as those in normal mice’. This would allow them to discover whether mice with longer telomeres live longer and have a lower risk of cancer, as well as whether this same mechanism could explain different longevities in genetically similar species. The research could also be of
benefit for the field of regenerative medicine, for making differentiated tissue cells with longer telomeres that are better protected from damage.
cartilage. Another treatment under development, to regrow lost hair follicles, also promises a ‘cure’ for baldness by treating androgenetic alopecia, a common form of hair loss. Like Unity’s senolytic molecules, Samumed’s therapies will likely need to be re-administered over time, Kibar said, though the frequency of repeat treatment will depend on the nature of the disease and where it’s located in the body. In the case of alopecia, for example, patients would use a once a day lotion on the scalp, but may lose hair again after they stop using the medication. ‘We think of ourselves as a spare parts business by targeting and
replenishing diseased or damaged tissues,’ Kibar said. ‘Like when your car tyres need replacing every few thousand km.’ Tackling the leaves and branches
of ageing will clearly bring many benefits. Ultimately, however, many researchers in the field believe the real rewards will stem from developing treatments that attack the roots and trunk of the matter: therapies that slow or even reverse the overall ageing process altogether. So what really causes ageing? David referred, for example, to an
‘epigenetic clock’ developed in 2013 by Steve Horvath, professor of human genetics at University of California,
I believe ageing is a series of optimisations by Nature to do good – with the unintended consequences of later in life things go bad
Ned David Unity Biotechnology
08 | 2017 29
ALFRED PASIEKA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
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