Recent studies show the potential – and the limits – of inducing telomerase expression in aging mice. We place these results in context and explore their implications for new treatments targeting age-related degeneration in humans, particularly examining how telomerase activity relates to the development of cancer.

SENS Foundation-funded research shows that expression of a modified microbial enzyme protects human cells against 7-ketocholesterol toxicity, advancing research toward remediation of the foam cell and rejuvenation of the atherosclerotic artery.

UCLA Researchers have exploited a recently-discovered mammalian system for the mitochondrial import of nuclear-encoded RNA to import, express, and demonstrate functional protein translation from engineered mRNA and tRNA constructs. They used this system, with modifications for mitochondrial targeting and orthotopic translation, to rescue respiration in human mitochondriopathy cells. While further characterization and extension is clearly needed, this approach appears offer great promise for the correction of age-related mitochondrial DNA mutations.

The promising results of immunotherapy for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease has sparked an interest in utilizing the same approach for other forms of aging damage, including the clearance of pathological tau species from within neurons. A group led by Dr. Lars Ittner of the University of Sydney has recently published promising results from studies using a vaccine targeted at the neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) that are characteristic of established tau accumulation.

APBs – protein complexes associated with telomeric DNA in ALT (Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres) cancer cells – are the leading candidates for the sub-cellular site at which the ALT mechanism occurs. Recent work involving the generation of artificial APBs has shed light on their composition and function, providing hints as to how ALT might be disabled.

Parkinson’s disease is characterised by the loss of dopaminergic neurons from the substantia nigra, and cell therapy is being actively pursued as a means to replace the losses. Most trials to date have used fetal tissue, an approach that although transiently effective is unscalable and prone to immune rejection. Human dopaminergic neurons differentiated from stem cells have historically had poor therapeutic efficiency, but a new study using an improved differentiation protocol has shown much more positive results.