The research team trying to study the reasons cells age, so that we might be able to design treatments for better aging. / A.M. Costa Rica wire services photo.
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New cause of cell aging discovered, say scientists
By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
New research from the University of Southern California, Viterbi School of Engineering, could be key to our understanding of how the aging process works. The findings potentially pave the way for better cancer treatments and revolutionary new drugs that could vastly improve human health in the twilight years.
The work, from Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Nick Graham and his team in collaboration with Scott Fraser, Provost Professor of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, and Pin Wang, Zohrab A. Kaprielian Fellow in Engineering, was recently published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
"To drink from the fountain of youth, you have to figure out where the fountain of youth is, and understand what the fountain of youth is doing," Graham said. "We're doing the opposite; we're trying to study the reasons cells age, so that we might be able to design treatments for better aging."
According to Alireza Delfarah, a graduate student in the Graham lab, focused on senescence, a natural process in which cells permanently stop creating new cells. This process is one of the key causes of age-related decline, manifesting in diseases such as arthritis, osteoporosis and heart disease.
"Senescent cells are effectively the opposite of stem cells, which have an unlimited potential for self-renewal or division," Delfarah said. "Senescent cells can never divide again. It's an irreversible state of cell cycle arrest."
The research team said, they discovered that the aging, senescent cells stopped producing a class of chemicals called nucleotides, which are the building blocks of DNA. When they took young cells and forced them to stop producing nucleotides, they became senescent, or aged.
"This means that the production of nucleotides is essential to keep cells young," Delfarah said. "It also means that if we could prevent cells from losing nucleotide synthesis, the cells might age more slowly."
Graham's team examined young cells that were proliferating robustly and fed them molecules labeled with stable isotopes of carbon, in order to trace how the nutrients consumed by a cell were processed into different biochemical pathways.
Scott Fraser and his lab worked with the research team to develop 3D imagery of the results. The images unexpectedly revealed that senescent cells often have two nuclei, and that they do not synthesize DNA.
More information on University of Southern California research team aging discovery can be reached at University site here.*
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