Upregulation of NRF2 in Mice Slows Neural Stem Cell Decline in Middle Age, but Not In Later Life

Today's open access paper provides an interesting example of a mechanism that slows a facet of aging only in middle age, when tested in mice. Researchers found that upregulation of NRF2 expression in the brain via gene therapy had meaningful positive effects on neural stem cell function in middle age only. We might consider that any given aspect of cell behavior is governed by multiple overlapping regulatory networks, and thus it is quite possible to see a particular point of intervention work under some circumstances but not under others, depending on the state of the cell, its environment, and which regulatory systems are dominant as a consequence. Neural stem cells provide a supply of new neurons to the brain, which is very important for tissue maintenance, recovery from injury, and the workings of memory, among other processes. These stem cell populations, like all others elsewhere in the body, decline in activity with age. Much of this is a reaction to the molecular damage of aging throughout the body and consequent changes in the signaling environment, rather than any critical inherent damage to the stem cells themselves. Thus a broad range of strategies in medical research aim to force stem cells into greater, more youthful levels of activity, overriding their controlling mechanisms in order to do so. It remains to be seen as to the degree that the risk of cancer, due to increased cell activity in an environment of increased cell damage, is a problem that will s...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs