In the study, the researchers focused on a specific protein called KLF1, which can be thought of as a kind of master switch that helps regulate the activity of various genes in certain blood cells and immune cells.
In the lab, the researchers noticed that mice with changes in the part of the KLF1 gene that controls the protein’s activity were unusually active late in life, and that their hair also stayed black and shiny for longer.
And when they looked at the lifespan of the genetically modified mice, they found that they lived 10 to 20 percent longer than the mice whose blood stem cells had not been altered.
In addition, the modified blood stem cells also seemed to slow down the lab mice’s mental decline.
According to the researchers, with just a single transplant, they were able to make a two-month-old mouse live five months longer than mice injected with regular blood stem cells. Their lives were extended by approximately 20 percent.
Researchers: Can be used in cancer treatment
Blood stem cells are already being used as part of the treatment of certain cancers (blood and bone marrow), but the researchers hope that by adding the modified blood stem cells at some point in the future, they could help prevent cancer from returning in patients.
The genetically modified blood stem cells also appear to suppress levels of the protein PD-1, which some cancers use to evade immune system attacks.
However, according to the researchers, it is still too early to know whether the genetically modified blood stem cells can also be used to extend human life.
The study was uploaded on the preprint server bioRxiv and is not on peer review subject, which is part of the quality assurance of scientific publications.
2023-05-22 03:12:37
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