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“Microglia exhibit both maladaptive and adaptive roles in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and have emerged as a therapeutic target for central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including those affecting the retina,” wrote the researchers. “Replacing maladaptive microglia, such as those impacted by aging or over-activation, with exogenous microglia that enable adaptive functions has been proposed as a potential therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases. To investigate the potential of microglial cell replacement as a strategy for retinal diseases, we first employed an efficient protocol to generate a significant quantity of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC)-derived microglia.”

“Our understanding of microglia function comes predominantly from rodent studies due to the difficulty of sourcing human tissue and isolating the microglia from these tissues. But there are genetic and functional differences between microglia in mice and humans, so these studies may not accurately represent many human conditions,” explained lead author Wenxin Ma, a PhD, biologist at the Retinal Neurophysiology Section, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health.

“To address this concern, researchers have been growing human microglia from human stem cells. We wanted to take this a step further and see if we could transplant human microglia into the mouse retina, to serve as a platform for screening therapeutic drugs as well as explore the potential of microglia transplantation as a therapy itself,” added senior author Wai Wong, vice president of retinal disease, Janssen Research and Development.

Step forward platelet factor 4 (PF4): this substance in the blood has been linked to the mental boost we get from exercise, the benefits of blood transfusions, and a protein associated with longevity, in three separate studies.

All three processes promote cognitive enhancement, meaning PF4 is something of a superpowered blood factor. The research was carried out by two teams from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in the US and the University of Queensland in Australia.

Platelets are cell fragments that play a critical role in the clotting process. Aside from serving as physical plugs that staunch bleeding, these small, non-nucleated chunks of bone marrow cell contain granules that release chemicals to promote aggregation.

Researchers at The University of Queensland have found an anti-aging function in a protein deep within human cells.

Associate Professor Steven Zuryn and Dr. Michael Dai at the Queensland Brain Institute have discovered that a protein called ATSF-1 controls a fine balance between the creation of new mitochondria and the repair of damaged mitochondria.

High-resolution 3D retina images have specific markers that can indicate the risk of Parkinson’s in a person. A new AI program can identify these markers and tell whether or not you have the disease.

Although Parkinson’s disease (PD) is incurable, a non-profit National Council of Aging report suggests that early detection and treatment could help patients live a long and productive life even with the disease.

Continue reading “AI can detect Parkinson’s 7 years before clinical diagnosis” »

A new research paper was published by Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as “Aging (Albany NY)” and “Aging-US” by Web of Science) in Volume 15, Issue 15, entitled, “Associations between klotho and telomere biology in high stress caregivers.”

Aging biomarkers may be related to each other through direct co-regulation and/or through being regulated by common processes associated with chronological aging or stress. Klotho is an aging regulator that acts as a circulating hormone with critical involvement in regulating insulin signaling, phosphate homeostasis, oxidative stress, and age-related inflammatory functioning.

In this new study, researchers Ryan L. Brown, Elissa E. Epel, Jue Lin, Dena B. Dubal, and Aric A. Prather from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, and the Department of Neurology and Weill Institute of Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco discuss the association between klotho levels and telomere length of specific sorted immune cells among a healthy sample of mothers caregiving for a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or a child without ASD — covarying age and body mass index — in order to understand if high stress associated with caregiving for a child with an ASD may be involved in any association between these aging biomarkers.

O.o!!! The longevity of this complex organism could reveal new avenues for immortality.

Arenaerpeton supinatus was discovered in rocks cut from a nearby quarry that were intended for the building of a garden wall.

A 240-million-year-old fossil of an amphibian was found in a retaining wall in the 1990s. This significant find has now been formally named and described by scientists at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) and the Australian Museum.

Continue reading “240-Million-Year-Old Giant Amphibian Discovered in Retaining Wall” »

We all know having a balanced diet is important to stay healthy. New research from Waseda University has started to unpick the optimum proportion of macronutrients for a diet that supports metabolic health as we age – starting with protein. The study is published in GeroScience.

Linking diet to “healthspan”

Over our lifespans, our nutrition needs change. By optimizing our diets according to what our bodies need (in relation to our age), we can maintain our metabolic health and thereby increase our “healthspan”, with healthspan referring to the length of time in our lives that we spend in good health.

These clocks promise to measure biological age and help identify anti-aging drugs, but there are lingering questions over their accuracy.

Brain age was estimated using an algorithm that combined multiple measures of brain structure obtained through MRI scans when the participants were 45 years old. This algorithm quantified the difference between estimated brain age and the participants’ chronological age, referred to as brain age gap estimate.

If the estimated brain age is higher than the chronological age, it suggests that the brain’s structural characteristics are more similar to those of an older individual. Conversely, if the estimated brain age is lower than the chronological age, the brain’s structural characteristics resemble those of a younger individual.

Lay-Yee and his colleagues also adjusted their analyses for various potential confounding factors. These included socio-demographic factors like sex and socio-economic status, as well as family factors (teen-aged mother, single parent, change in residence, maltreatment) and child-behavioral factors (self-control, worry/fearfulness).