Longer Life Killing special cells can increase life expectancy

Mice live up to 25 percent longer when their senescent cells are destroyed
From the very beginning of humanity, we have been trying to find ways to extend our life expectancy. Every healthy person would certainly like to live a few extra years. But so far the doctors had failed to find such a kind of fountain of youth. Now scientists could have identified a way to extend our lives.

Many healthy people want a longer life. Thus, it is not surprising that physicians are looking for ways to extend life expectancy. Now US scientists at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine may have made a big breakthrough. They found that there are senescent cells in the human body that are responsible for aging and favor the development of age-related diseases. The results of their study published the researchers in the journal "Nature".

Senescent cells have a significant impact on aging and life expectancy. (Image: Syda Productions / fotolia.com)

Mice live 25 percent longer and are healthier
People have been trying for ages to extend their life expectancy. But so far there has been no magic bullet that reliably increases our life expectancy. Now, however, the researchers found in their study that mice were much healthier and lived about 25 percent longer when a certain type of cell in their organism was killed. These cells make up the body during the aging process. As we age, more and more dead cells accumulate. The cells, but proteins that have a negative impact on the surrounding cells, explains the co-author. Jan van Deursen. This "cellular garbage" causes our organs to function less optimally, adds the physician.

Anti-cancer drug kills senescent cells
For the study, researchers modified genetically normal mice to respond to a compound called AP20187. This was originally developed as an anti-cancer drug, the researchers explain. Senescent cells seem to be very similar to cancer cells. In the mice AP20187 can apparently destroy the senescent cells, explain the experts. Older animals have much more of these cells than young mice. Even though the cells no longer divide, they add a mixture of chemicals that can trigger inflammation that is involved in almost every major age-related disease, the doctors add.

Treated mice had healthier hearts and improved kidney function
In the genetically modified mice of the researchers, the function of the drug was tested against senescent cells. The scientists waited until the mice reached middle age and then began administering the drug to them. It did not seem to matter if the first aging cells were destroyed. But as the mice aged, the research team found that the treated mice were healthier. When the physicians then began to survey the lifespan of the animals, they discovered something interesting. The life expectancy of the mice increased by about 25 percent when the animals were removed from the first year of age, the aging cells, says Dr. med. van Deursen. The treated mice showed less cataracts, hearts with better stress tolerance and improved kidney function.

Proper handling of senescent cells could make us healthier and last longer
It seems like we are accumulating a type of cell in ourselves that we do not really need, increasing the chance of illness. They also reduce the length of our lives, explain the experts. Of course, doctors are already looking for medicines that can eliminate such cells. Effective drugs will not be available in the near future, the scientists warn. However, the results in the mice have shown that there could be new opportunities to increase our health and life expectancy, explain the doctors. The results of the latest study are of great importance, as the mice not only lived longer, but were also healthier. Of course, these mice have also aged and eventually died, say the scientists. Thus, there is still no miracle cure that stops our aging process. However, it is clear that these cells play an important role in our body. However, one should be careful with his expectations. The killing of senescent cells may not only bring benefits, warns Professor Dominic Withers of Imperial College London in a commentary to the current study. Although these cells would affect our aging process, it is still unclear how exactly the cells should be handled. So far it remains to be seen whether it is better to simply kill these cells or to prevent such cells secreting potentially harmful molecules, the experts say. (As)