Scientists at the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom, managed, for the first time, to rejuvenate the skin cells of a 53-year-old woman in 30 years. The researchers believe that, with the same technique, they can reproduce the results with other tissues in the body.
The ability to reverse aging is crucial to preventing and treating age-related diseases such as heart and neurological problems.
The study was published Friday (8) in the scientific journal eLife by British, German and Portuguese scientists from the Babraham Institute of Epigenetics in Cambridge. It is based on the same cell reprogramming technique used to create the cloned sheep Dolly in the 1990s at the Roslin Institute, also in the UK.
Still at an early stage, the research promises to revolutionize regenerative medicine. “We will be able to identify the specific genes that rejuvenate without having to reprogram the cell,” says Wolf Reik, lead author of the study.
One of the tools to repair or replace damaged cells with advancing age is the ability to transform stem cells into specific cells and vice versa.
Stem cells appear at the beginning of the embryo and can transform into all types of tissue in the human organism. In the laboratory, however, only a few types were reprogrammed, such as skin cells or fibroblasts.
In 2007, after learning how to clone Dolly, scientist Shinya Yamanaka transformed normal cells into stem cells, capable of becoming any type of cell in much less time. The process took 50 days and used molecules named Yamanaka factors.
Scientists at the Babraham Institute then created a new method. In it, the fibroblasts were only exposed to the factors for 13 days. Thus, they lost the markers of aging, but maintained the functions of skin cells, such as collagen production.
Then they looked for changes in markers of aging—certain chemical and genetic traits. By these measurements, the observed cell was similar to that of a 23-year-old, both in appearance and functioning.
For now, the technique cannot be tested clinically, as it increases the risk of cancer. But, say the scientists, with the advancement of technology it will be possible to use it to give more quality of life to the elderly.
The information is from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo.
Source: CNN Brasil
