Bolstered by plenty of groundbreaking research, May marked a pivotal summit in Berlin for startups focusing on rejuvenation biotechnology. Here’s what happened last month.
LEAF News
“Everything Happens in Berlin”: Highlights from the Summit: The Rejuvenation Startup Summit in Berlin might not be the biggest or the longest-running longevity conference, but it never disappoints. We present you with the highlights from this vibrant, biotech-oriented event. As always, our apologies go to those equally worthy speakers who did not make the cut.
Research Roundup
Intermittent Fasting Induces Changes in Multiple Biomarkers: A study published in Human Nutrition & Metabolism found that prolonged intermittent fasting causes the expression of genes involved in autophagy, the inflammasome, and senescence to change.
Stem Cells Alleviate Frailty in Clinical Trial: A placebo-controlled Phase 1/2 trial conducted in East Shanghai has found that administering umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells reduces frailty in older people.
Transplanting Mitochondria Improves Muscle Function: A recent study saw researchers associated with Cellvie demonstrate significant improvements to mitochondria and muscle function in aged mice by injecting additional mitochondria. Mitochondrial dysfunction is a reason we age.
A New Potential Path to Treating Kidney Fibrosis: Researchers have found a new protein target for senescence-related kidney diseases and published their findings in Aging Cell. Chronic kidney disease is all too common in older people, as a full third of people over 70 have moderate to severe forms of it.
Exploring How Caloric Restriction Impacts Telomere Length: A recent study from Penn State University may shed more light on the link between telomeres, aging, and why caloric restriction appears to influence them. Telomeres are small protective caps on the ends of our chromosomes that guard our DNA.
NMN and NR Reverse Ovarian Aging in Rats: In a recent Pharmaceutical Research paper, the researchers explored the molecular processes through which the NAD+ precursors NMN and NR reversed ovarian aging in middle-aged rats. Female fertility decreases rather quickly for people and animals.
Clearing Senescent Cells Can Be a Double-Edged Sword: Researchers have found that removing senescent cells makes it easier for mice to fight initial infections but harder for them to develop immune memory. This serves as strong evidence that senescent cells, and their effects, are heterogenous and cannot be treated as a single factor.
iPSC-derived Cardiomyocytes Rescue Heart Damage in Monkeys: Scientists have successfully used heart muscle cells created from induced pluripotent stem cells to counter the deleterious effects of heart attack in non-human primates. According to the researchers, cardiac spheroids “have several advantages and may be an ideal form of a cardiomyocyte product for cardiac regenerative therapy”.
Aged Bacteria Increase Gut Inflammation in Younger Animals: Researchers have discovered negative ways in which intestinal bacteria change over time, spurring gut inflammation, and introduced older bacteria into a population of younger mice to determine their effects.
Evening Aerobic Exercise Associated with Least Mortality: A new study suggests that aerobic medium-to-vigorous physical activity benefits obese and diabetic people the most when conducted in the evening hours instead of the morning.
Stem Cell Transplants for Ovarian Aging: Experiments in mouse models show the efficacy and safety of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in treating ovarian aging. Mesenchymal stem cells are stem cells derived from mesodermal tissue, such as the umbilical cord, umbilical cord blood, the placenta, fat tissue, and bone marrow.
Exercise May Remove Senescent Cells Through Inflammation: Exercise may be able to remove senescent cells only if acute inflammation is allowed to occur, according to a new study published in Aging. Inflammation is known to be a critical part of aging, and its chronic accumulation has been labeled as a hallmark of aging: inflammaging.
Plant Virus Nanoparticles Prevent Metastatic Cancers: Scientists have demonstrated that viral particles from a harmless plant virus can be used as an adjuvant therapy to prevent recurrence of disease and metastasis formation in several cancer models.
One Reason Why Older People Have Chronic Pain: Researchers have discovered a compound and a brain region that may be related to chronic pain in older people and published their findings in Aging Cell. Unlike other senses, pain doesn’t often decrease with time.
Wide-Ranging Benefits for Plant-Based Diets: A vast new study connects plant-based diets with various health benefits, including in cardiovascular diseases and cancer. While some of the studies found no significant correlations between health benefits and plant-based diets, virtually none reported negative associations.
Effect of Food Groups on Aging in Older Women: A paper published in Age and Ageing analyzed the intake of different food groups and whether they accelerate or decelerate biological age in post-menopausal women.
Investigating Why Brain Plasticity Decreases with Age: Publishing in Aging, a team of researchers has used a rat model to investigate a possible reason why old people are less able to learn new things. The compound in question affects multiple aspects of cognition, most notably neuroplasticity: the brain’s ability to learn new things.
Why One Antioxidant Might Alleviate Disc Degeneration: In Aging Cell, researchers have published detailed information on why the antioxidant pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), which is known to be safe in humans, alleviates age-related disc degeneration in mice.
Interrupting the Chain of Disc Degeneration: In Aging Cell, researchers have published a potential method of ameliorating disc degeneration that focuses on the cells living in a low-oxygen environment within the discs.
Ketogenic Diets Cause Cellular Senescence in Mice: A new study tested two ketogenic diets and found increases in cellular senescence in multiple tissues. Ketogenic diets have been a matter of substantial debate.
Air Pollution Is Associated with Dementia Risk: A long-term female nurse study suggests a link between long-term exposure to certain air pollutants, but not road traffic noise, and the risk of developing dementia. Air pollution is a known risk factor for many other conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, Type 2 diabetes, and lung cancer.
An Animal Without an Observed Mortality Increase: The researchers of a previous controversial paper on the naked mole-rat’s impressive longevity have returned, publishing data in GeroScience that bolsters their original findings. The naked mole-rat, an unusually long-lived rodent species that lives in large colonies, has long been a mystery of gerontology.
Study Suggests a Link Between Tattoos and Lymphoma: Scientists have reported a possible correlation between having tattoos and getting lymphoma later in life. However, multiple caveats apply, and the results in this study hovered close to statistical significance.
Mediterranean Diet Adherence and Risk of All-Cause Mortality in Women: In this study, higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with one-fifth lower relative risk of mortality, which could be partially explained by multiple cardiometabolic risk factors.
Physical activity and fiber intake beneficial for muscle mass and strength preservation during aging: In both men and women, the main factors associated with FFM and handgrip strength are physical activity and fiber intake, which may underlie a connection between gut and muscle health.
Synergistic impact of 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and physical activity on delaying aging: A higher 25(OH)D level was associated with a lower risk of biological aging. Combining 25(OH)D and PA demonstrated enhanced protective effects, especially in middle or young adults.
Association of physical activity and vitamin D deficiency with cognitive impairment in older adults: a population based cross-sectional analysis: There was a multiplicative interaction between physical activity and vitamin D on cognitive function
Integrated transcriptome and metabolome study reveal the therapeutic effects of nicotinamide riboside and nicotinamide mononucleotide on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: This study established a theoretical foundation for the potential use of NMN and NR in future clinical settings.
A cocktail of rapamycin, acarbose, and phenylbutyrate prevents age-related cognitive decline in mice by targeting multiple aging pathways: The molecular endpoint assessments indicated that treatment with the drug cocktail was overall more effective than any of the individual drugs for relieving cognitive impairment by targeting multiple aging pathways.
Lifespan effects in male UM-HET3 mice treated with sodium thiosulfate, 16-hydroxyestriol, and late-start canagliflozin: These data bring to 7 the list of Interventions Testing Program-tested drugs that induce at least a 10% lifespan increase in one or both sexes.
A randomized, controlled clinical trial demonstrates improved owner-assessed cognitive function in senior dogs receiving a senolytic and NAD+ precursor combination: The researchers conclude that LY-D6/2 improves owner-assessed cognitive function over a 3-month period and may have broader, but more subtle effects on frailty, activity and happiness as reported by owners.
Translatability of life-extending pharmacological treatments between different species: Bridging this gap is essential to assess the potential of such treatments in extending the human healthspan.
Targeting CK2 eliminates senescent cells and prolongs lifespan in Zmpste24-deficient mice: This study identified TBB as a senolytic compound that can reduce age-related symptoms and prolong lifespan in progeroid mice.
Safety and efficacy of autologous adipose tissue-derived stem cell transplantation in aging-related low-grade inflammation patients: Compared to baseline (D-44), the inflammatory cytokines IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-8, IL-6, and TNF-α were significantly reduced after 180 days (D180) of MSC infusion.
Anti-aging Effects of Tirbanibulin 1% Ointment: A Real-Life Experience: Tirbanibulin 1% ointment seems able to improve skin aging as a desirable side effect at the site of application for non-hyperkeratotic actinic keratosis on chronic photodamaged skin.
Psychogenic Aging: A Novel Prospect to Integrate Psychobiological Hallmarks of Aging: This perspective argues that psychogenic aging should be considered an integral component of the Hallmarks of Aging framework.
News Nuggets
AgeLab to Drive Longevity Innovation and Research: John Hancock, along with its Toronto-based parent company Manulife (NYSE:MFC), today announced a five-year, multimillion-dollar research collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Two Leading Scientists Debate Human Lifespan: A debate titled “How to Defeat Aging” featured two distinguished scientists, Peter Fedichev and Aubrey de Grey, both proponents of radical life extension with biotechnology, with opposing views. Fedichev believes aging is irreversible but can be slowed or stopped, while de Grey argues for the potential of rejuvenation biotechnologies.
Ora Biomedical and Air Force Partner for Therapies: Ora Biomedical, Inc. announces it has been selected by AFWERX for a SBIR Phase I contract in the amount of $75,000 focused on developing novel therapeutics to address the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force.
Turn Bio Signs Agreement with HanAll Biopharma: Turn Biotechnologies, a developer of novel mRNA medicines and enabling technologies, today announced an exclusive global licensing agreement with pharmaceutical manufacturer HanAll Biopharma to develop groundbreaking medicines for the treatment of age-related eye and ear conditions.
Coming Up
LongX Launches the Xplore Program for Students: LongX, an initiative dedicated to providing early-career avenues into longevity, announced a call for applications for its 2024 Xplore Program. The program lasts from June 2024 until September 2024 and features a one-month longevity primer course followed by the opportunity to gain educational experience with a company operating in the longevity biotechnology sector.
