Two more anti-ageing reports this week
Firstly, Cambrian Biopharma have just raised $100 million from investors to pursue a business model that identifies diseases that mimic old-age, partners with researchers to find pharmaceuticals to treat them, then modifies and repurposes those as off-label anti-ageing treatments – finally hoping to get them licensed. Metformin may well be up on their list.
Secondly, actual research results from a vaccine against senescent cells in mice demonstrate successfully reversing an ageing-disease and prolonging life. Senescent cells are cells that have stopped multiplying due to damage or stress, but have not followed the normal apoptosis pathway to eliminate themselves. Ageing makes the immune system less efficient at removing these cells, and they release inflammatory signals causing damage to other cells close by – evidence suggests they contribute to cancer, Alzheimer’s and atherosclerosis. Although some drugs have been tested that can clear senescent cells, this reported study involved the development of a vaccine targeted against the GPNMB protein that is over-expressed on the surface of senescent cells. The vaccinated mice developed less arterial plaques, were more agile as they aged, and lived a little longer.
And here is a link to the previous blogs I have written on anti-ageing:
