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"Youth'n™ Up Your Aging Brain"
David J. Demko, PhD, AgeVenture News Service, Boca Raton, FL, 06-29-11
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A Johns Hopkins University (JHU) medical research team has discovered a
brain stem cell in mice that is capable of replicating itself, as well as, producing a variety of new brain cells. Study findings are reported in the June 24, 2011 issue of CELL, a peer-reviewed journal focusing on cell research.
Scientists already know that the brain has the capacity to generate
neurons which send and receive signals, as well as glial cells
that surround the neurons. However, this new research discovered that these different cell types
came from a single source.
"Now we know they don't just maintain their numbers, or go down in
number, but that stem cells can amplify," says Hongjun Song, Ph.D.,
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
"If we can somehow cash in on this
newly discovered property of stem cells in the brain, and find ways
to intervene so they divide more, then we might actually increase
their numbers instead of losing them over time, which is what
normally happens, perhaps due to aging or diseases."
"We discovered that single cells in an intact animal nervous system absolutely do exhibit
stem-cell properties; they are capable of both replicating themselves
and producing different types of differentiated neural progeny,"
says JHU professor, Guo-li Ming.
The JHU research team re-examined the "mother" cell a full year
later to discover that the "mother" cell was still replicating itself.
There you have it. Medical science may, someday, reverse the brain's aging process. But right now, the subject of this research is a lab rat, and it will take great leaps of faith, learning and progress to see these results reflected in the human brain any time soon. After all, the line of volunteers for brain research is, no doubt, very short.
Whether or not the mystery of human aging is unlocked from either the top-down, bottom-up, or both, Boomers will be encouraged by the opportunities to living longer, healthier, productive lives. In the future, expect mo Boomers to evolve into ZOOMERS as they learn about and adopt proven lifestyle and genetic strategies for better living.
Support for the JHU Medical research came from the National Institutes of
Health, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and the Maryland
Stem Cell Research Foundation.
Authors of the paper, in addition to Hongjun Song and Guo-li Ming,
are Michael A. Bonaguidi, Michael A. Wheeler, Jason S. Shapiro and
Gerald. J. Sun, all of Johns Hopkins University.
Image credits: CELL, 06-24-2011 (photo top left) and AgeVenture™ News Service ZOOMERS™ (photo bottom)
Source: "Zoomer Boomer: stop acting your age, start living your life" by David Demko, 2011, AgeVenture Press.
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