Communication Between Blood and Brain in Aging and Rejuvenation

As noted here, joining the circulatory systems of an old and young mouse results in some degree of rejuvenation in the old mouse. Where brain function is improved, researchers are interested in how changes in the blood signaling environment might be involved. While research initially focused on factors in young blood that are reduced in old blood, it is increasingly thought that the important mechanism is a dilution of harmful factors carried in the old bloodstream. This has led to a few studies of plasma transfer and dilution in humans, and at least one company attempting to determine the optimal dose and protocol to make this approach into a widely used therapy. Researchers have recently leveraged evolving proteomic approaches and single-cell RNA-sequencing technologies to begin to decode the functional impact of intertissue communication on brain aging. The application of molecular approaches to investigate systemic and lifestyle interventions, such as heterochronic parabiosis (in which the circulatory systems of young and aged animals are surgically connected), young blood plasma administration, exercise, and caloric restriction, has uncovered broad rejuvenating effects on the aged brain that are mediated through blood, which question the very notion that brain aging is immutable. To what extent do pro-aging and pro-youthful factors act through convergent or divergent mechanisms? With respect to a common tissue of origin, the hematopoietic system and infla...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs