aging tagged posts

New Molecules Reverse Memory Loss linked to Depression, Aging

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Novel Benzodiazepine-Like Ligands with Various Anxiolytic, Antidepressant, or Pro-Cognitive ProfilesMolecular Neuropsychiatry, 2019; 1 DOI: 10.1159/000496086

New therapeutic molecules developed at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) show promise in reversing the memory loss linked to depression and aging.
These molecules not only rapidly improve symptoms, but remarkably, also appear to renew the underlying brain impairments causing memory loss in preclinical models.

“Currently there are no medications to treat cognitive symptoms such as memory loss that occur in depression, other mental illnesses and aging,” says Dr. Etienne Sibille, Deputy Director of the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at CAMH and lead scientist on the study.

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The Na/K-ATPase Oxidant Amplification Loop Regulates Aging

Effects of pNaKtide on adipocyte phenotype, senescence, and apoptosis in C57Bl6 aging mice. (A) H&E staining in visceral adipose tissue. Images taken with 40X objective lens; scale bar represents 100 µm. Arrows mark “crown like structures” indicative of inflammation. (B) Quantitative analysis of adipocytes area in visceral adipose tissue. (C) Representative images of TUNEL assay with quantification in C57B16 aging mice. Images taken with 40X objective lens; scale bar represents 25 µm. (D–F) qRT-PCR analysis of ApoJ, p21 and PPARγ in C57Bl6 aging mice with GAPDH as a loading control. Y, young; Y + P, young + pNaKtide; OB, old baseline; O, old; O + P, old + pNaKtide; O + WD, old + western diet; O + WD + P, old + western diet + pNaKtide. N = 8/group, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 vs Y, #p < 0.05, ##p < 0.01 vs O, &p < 0.05, &&p < 0.01 vs O + WD.

Effects of pNaKtide on adipocyte phenotype, senescence, and apoptosis in C57Bl6 aging mice. (A) H&E staining in visceral adipose tissue. Images taken with 40X objective lens; scale bar represents 100 µm. Arrows mark “crown like structures” indicative of inflammation. (B) Quantitative analysis of adipocytes area in visceral adipose tissue. (C) Representative images of TUNEL assay with quantification in C57B16 aging mice. Images taken with 40X objective lens; scale bar represents 25 µm. (D–F) qRT-PCR analysis of ApoJ, p21 and PPARγ in C57Bl6 aging mice with GAPDH as a loading control. Y, young; Y + P, young + pNaKtide; OB, old baseline; O, old; O + P, old + pNaKtide; O + WD, old + western diet; O + WD + P, old + western diet + pNaKtide. N = 8/group, *p < 0.05, **p < 0...

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Genome wide association study of Epigenetic Aging rates in blood reveals a Critical Role for TERT

The structure of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). Human TERT contains four key domains: the telomerase essential N-terminal (TEN) domain; the TERT RNA binding (TRB) domain; the reverse transcriptase (RT) domain and the C-terminal extension (CTE) domain.

The structure of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). Human TERT contains four key domains: the telomerase essential N-terminal (TEN) domain; the TERT RNA binding (TRB) domain; the reverse transcriptase (RT) domain and the C-terminal extension (CTE) domain.

Researchers from several institutions, including, UCLA, Boston University, Stanford University and the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife, analyzed blood samples from nearly 10,000 people to find that genetic markers in the gene responsible for keeping telomeres (tips of chromosomes) youthfully longer, did not translate into a younger biologic age as measured by changes in proteins coating the DNA.

DNA methylation age is a biomarker of chronological age and predicts lifespan, but its underlying molecular mechan...

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It’s not just what you Eat, it’s what’s Eating You

Aging Study, C. elegans, Worms

With disease, when you decrease autophagy (a garbage disposal-like process where cells “eat” debris they produce) the disease process is exacerbated and when you increase it you get the opposite effect. Aggregation of polyglutamine expansion protein is a hallmark of Huntington’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. The picture shows that there are more aggregates of green fluorescence protein-labelled polyglutamine expansion protein in autophagy deficient worms (bottom) compared to normal worms (top).

Restricting how much you eat without starving has been shown to robustly extend lifespan in more than 20 species of animals including primates. How this works is still unclear...

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