Elderly cells may hold the answers to youth

THE SEARCH for a “fountain of youth” is one part of commercial scientific research that receives plenty of funding. However, ethical restrictions imposed upon embryonic stem-cell research have made it difficult to make real advancements in the field. But what if we could use old cells to produce new ones?

The genomic plasticity and ageing team at the Functional Genomics Institute in Montpelier, France has achieved this, effectively rejuvenating cells from donors of up to 100 years of age and over.

The process involved “reprogramming” cells. This was done in two ways: first in vitro to induced artificial pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and then the process was repeated with human embryonic stem cells. The human cells were taken from donors aged between 74 and 101 years old. Both the artificial and human cells were “reprogrammed” with a cocktail composed of six genetic factors.

The result was that both cell types could be differentiated again after a “genuine rejuvenation therapy”. Reprogramming of cells in this way theoretically makes it possible to recreate pretty much all human cell-types without the ethical restrictions related to using embryonic stem cells.

“The age of cells is definitely not a reprogramming barrier,” says researcher Jean-Marc Lemaitre. “This research paves the way for the [therapy], insofar as an ideal source of adult cells are provided, which are tolerated by the immune system and can repair organs or tissues in elderly patients.”