Search Results for: maximally madifiable mouse

A comprehensive suite of rejuvenation biotechnologies must include the removal of extracellular aggregates from aging cells and tissues, particularly the brain. Recent work indicates that up-regulation of the activity of the native lysosomal pathway for clearance of beta-amyloid (Abeta) by the small molecule PADK can reverse existing Alzheimer-like pathology in mouse models, although caution is required in interpreting these results in the context of human disease.

Neurofibrillary tangles – accumulations of abnormal tau protein – are thought to play a central role in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. Here we review a recent report in which immunotherapy was used to clear tau aggregates from a highly accurate mouse tauopathy model, resulting in functional recovery on multiple cognitive tests.

Much of the distraction in the literature of biogerontology, and an even higher ratio of studies cited and promoted in the popular media and the dietary supplement industry, derives from methodologically-poor lifespan studies in mice (or occasionally rats). In these studies, an increase in mean or maximal lifespan is reported, relative to short-lived controls, and claimed to be informative about the universal, degenerative aging process and the prospects for extending healthy life in humans living in the developed world.

Unlike mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), human ESCs are highly prone to death after enzymatic dissociation from a growing cell cluster; as a result, researchers are forced to rely on far more laborious methods for their expansion. New research at the Scripps Institute has revealed the molecular basis for this frustrating limitation, and also uncovered two small-molecule drugs able to greatly improve the cells’ survival.