Mice lifespan extended via gene therapy

[Count Zero]

ScienceDaily reports, 'Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre have demonstrated that the mouse lifespan can be extended by the application in adult life of a single treatment acting directly on the animal's genes. Mice treated at the age of one lived longer by 24% on average (PDF), and those treated at the age of two, by 13%. The therapy, furthermore, produced an appreciable improvement in the animals' health, delaying the onset of age-related diseases — like osteoporosis and insulin resistance — and achieving improved readings on aging indicators like neuromuscular coordination.' Notably, the therapy did not cause an increase in the incidence of cancer.

(See links for more information)

-- 

Count Zero

[Tal Galili]

Very nice, thank you for the link!

Here is the abstract:

Abstract

A major goal in aging research is to improve health during aging. In the case of mice, genetic manipulations that shorten or lengthen telomeres result, respectively, in decreased or increased longevity. Based on this, we have tested the effects of a telomerase gene therapy in adult (1 year of age) and old (2 years of age) mice. Treatment of 1- and 2-year old mice with an adeno associated virus (AAV) of wide tropism expressing mouse TERT had remarkable beneficial effects on health and fitness, including insulin sensitivity, osteoporosis, neuromuscular coordination and several molecular biomarkers of aging. Importantly, telomerase-treated mice did not develop more cancer than their control littermates, suggesting that the known tumorigenic activity of telomerase is severely decreased when expressed in adult or old organisms using AAV vectors. Finally, telomerase-treated mice, both at 1-year and at 2-year of age, had an increase in median lifespan of 24 and 13%, respectively. These beneficial effects were not observed with a catalytically inactive TERT, demonstrating that they require telomerase activity. Together, these results constitute a proof-of-principle of a role of TERT in delaying physiological aging and extending longevity in normal mice through a telomerase-based treatment, and demonstrate the feasibility of anti-aging gene therapy.

And a link to the paper (for people with access)

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/emmm.201200245/pdf 

----------------Contact Details:-------------------------------------------------------
Contact me: Tal.G...@gmail.com |  972-52-7275845
Read me: www.talgalili.com (Hebrew) | www.biostatistics.co.il (Hebrew) | www.r-statistics.com (English)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "life-extension-hebrew" group.
To post to this group, send email to life-exten...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to life-extension-h...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/life-extension-hebrew?hl=en.

[Yoni Donner]

Thanks for the link! Their earlier work on mice with upregulated telomerase + p53 was amazing and one of the most important studies in aging biology (in my opinion) in recent years, and it's good to read that they're still running forward. Very cool.

[Ilia Stambler]

It seems to me that their 2007 study on telomerase and p53, leading to a 40% increase in longevity, might be a little too amazing. It seems nobody has reproduced it since that time...

[Count Zero]

It may be that there were other factors at play that we aren't aware of. For example if the mice were fed a different food. 

Aric