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Scientists successfully test the first gene therapy againstaging-associated decline by 123wert sdfsf
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Scientists successfully test the first gene therapy againstaging-associated decline by 123WERT SDFSF
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| Article Posted: 06/22/2013 |
| Article Views: 141 |
| Articles Written: 2217 - MORE ARTICLES FROM THIS AUTHOR |
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Scientists successfully test the first gene therapy againstaging-associated decline |
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A number of studies have shown that it is possible to lengthen theaverage life of individuals of many species, including mammals, byacting on specific genes. To date, however, this has meant alteringthe animals' genes permanently from the embryonic stage - anapproach impracticable in humans. Researchers at the SpanishNational Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), led by its director Mar aBlasco, have proved that mouse lifespan can be extended by theapplication in adult life of a single treatment acting directly onthe animal's genes. And they have done so using gene therapy, astrategy never before employed to combat ageing.
The therapy hasbeen found to be safe and effective in mice. The results are published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine . The CNIO team, in collaboration with Eduard Ayuso and F timaBosch of the Centre of Animal Biotechnology and Gene Therapy at theUniversitat Aut noma de Barcelona (UAB), treated adult(one-year-old) and aged (two-year-old) mice, with the gene therapydelivering a "rejuvenating" effect in both cases, according to theauthors. Mice treated at the age of one lived longer by 24% on average, andthose treated at the age of two, by 13%. The therapy, furthermore,produced an appreciable improvement in the animals' health,delaying the onset of age-related diseases - like osteoporosis and insulin resistance - and achieving improved readings on ageingindicators like neuromuscular coordination.
The gene therapy utilised consisted of treating the animals with aDNA-modified virus, the viral genes having been replaced by thoseof the telomerase enzyme, with a key role in ageing. Telomeraserepairs the extremes of chromosomes, known as telomeres, and indoing so slows the cell's and therefore the body's biologicalclock. When the animal is infected, the virus acts as a vehicledepositing the telomerase gene in the cells. This study "shows that it is possible to develop a telomerase-basedanti-ageing gene therapy without increasing the incidence of cancer ", the authors affirm.
"Aged organisms accumulate damage in theirDNA due to telomere shortening, [this study] finds that a genetherapy based on telomerase production can repair or delay thiskind of damage", they add. 'Resetting' the biological clock Telomeres are the caps that protect the end of chromosomes, butthey cannot do so indefinitely: each time the cell divides thetelomeres get shorter, until they are so short that they lose allfunctionality. The cell, as a result, stops dividing and ages ordies. Telomerase gets round this by preventing telomeres fromshortening or even rebuilding them.
What it does, in essence, isstop or reset the cell's biological clock. But in most cells the telomerase gene is only active before birth;the cells of an adult organism, with few exceptions, have notelomerase. The exceptions in question are adult stem cells and cancer cells, which divide limitlessly and are thereforeimmortal - in fact several studies have shown that telomeraseexpression is the key to the immortality of tumour cells. It is precisely this risk of promoting tumour development that hasset back the investigation of telomerase-based anti-ageingtherapies. In 2007, Blasco's group proved that it was feasible to prolong thelives of transgenic mice, whose genome had been permanently alteredat the embryonic stage, by causing their cells to expresstelomerase and, also, extra copies of cancer-resistant genes.
Theseanimals live 40% longer than is normal and do not develop cancer. The mice subjected to the gene therapy now under test are likewisefree of cancer. Researchers believe this is because the therapybegins when the animals are adult so do not have time to accumulatesufficient number of aberrant divisions for tumours to appear. Also important is the kind of virus employed to carry thetelomerase gene to the cells.
The authors selected demonstrablysafe viruses that have been successfully used in gene therapytreatment of haemophilia and eye disease. Specifically, they are non-replicating virusesderived from others that are non-pathogenic in humans. This study is viewed primarily as "a proof-of-principle thattelomerase gene therapy is a feasible and generally safe approachto improve healthspan and treat disorders associated with shorttelomeres", state Virginia Boccardi (Second University of Naples)and Utz Herbig (New Jersey Medical School-University HospitalCancer Centre) in a commentary published in the same journal. Although this therapy may not find application as an anti-ageingtreatment in humans, in the short term at least, it could open up anew treatment option for ailments linked with the presence intissue of abnormally short telomeres, as in some cases of humanpulmonary fibrosis.
More healthy years As Blasco says, "ageing is not currently regarded as a disease, butresearchers tend increasingly to view it as the common origin ofconditions like insulin resistance or cardiovascular disease, whoseincidence rises with age. In treating cell ageing, we could preventthese diseases". With regard to the therapy under testing, Bosch explains: "Becausethe vector we use expresses the target gene (telomerase) over along period, we were able to apply a single treatment. This mightbe the only practical solution for an anti-ageing therapy, sinceother strategies would require the drug to be administered over thepatient's lifetime, multiplying the risk of adverse effects".
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