Anti-aging Drug Breakthrough: Biotechnology Shapes Bright Future

Aging is the result of the overlap of internal and external processes. The aging of cells in the body causes irreversible damage, and the limited regeneration capacity leads to tissue and organ damage. Human aging is the greatest risk for a series of diseases, including osteoarthritis, Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome. The fight against aging has become the focus of human beings for a long time. At present, many related studies are in full swing, and have achieved surprising results.

• Stem Cells Targeting Damaged Cells

The characteristics and functions of stem cells make them have broad application prospects in clinical medicine such as wound repair, nerve regeneration and anti-aging. Stem cells in many tissues will gradually age and decrease with age, and eventually cell senescence, death, and loss of regeneration will occur. Injecting stem cells into the aging group can repair damaged cells in the human body and replace apoptotic cells at the same time so that the immune cells in human body can stay in the state of youth.

In 2019, a paper published in Nature titled Hypothalamic Stem Cells Control Ageing Speed Partly Through Exosomal miRNAs showed that injecting stem cells into the human brain can delay aging, improve cognition and prolong lifespan. Research by Dr. Dongsheng Cai of Einstein College of Medicine and his expert group, the author of this paper, found that it is now possible to locate specific cells responsible for the aging process—neural stem cells, which are also involved in neurogenesis, that is, creating new brain neurons.

• Needle-free Exosome Therapy to Reduce Winkles

Exosomes are small membrane vesicles (30-150nm in diameter) containing complex RNA and proteins, which are released into the extracellular matrix after the fusion of the outer membrane of multivesicles with the cell membrane. Because of its function of mediating cell-to-cell communication and regulating the characteristics of target cells, it has received extensive attention in recent years.

Researchers from North Carolina State University have published a research paper titled Needle-Free Injection of Exosomes Derived from Human Dermal Fibroblast Spheroids Ameliorates Skin Photoaging in ACS Nano. Their study found that treating human skin cells in a petri dish with exosomes from stem cell increased the collagen and made the cells younger. More importantly, they developed a needle-free device to implement this exosome therapy, which uses air jets to deliver drugs deep into the skin, which can reduce wrinkles from exposure to ultraviolet light.

• CAR-T Technology Decreases Senescent Cells in Mice

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell technology is a rising star in the fight against cancer in recent years. Recently, American scientists have targeted it at zombie cells (senescent cells). The researchers first locked uPAR, a special mark that only appears on the surface of senescent cells, and then installed a CAR that specifically recognizes uPAR on the mouse T cells through gene editing technology. After completing the customization of CAR-T cells, they will only do one thing, that is to kill all senescent cells.

The in vitro experiment was very successful. In just 10 days, CAR-T cells destroyed almost all senescent cells and showed no toxicity to normal cells. Then the researchers started the in vivo experiment while delighted. They injected uPAR-CART cells into mice suffering from liver fibrosis due to aging. The number of senescent cells in the treated mice decreased significantly, and the fibrosis of the liver also showed a significant improvement.

"As a rising star in the field of anti-aging, CAR-T cells have shown outstanding potential. Many authorities in this field consider that although it is only an experimental stage, the development prospects of CAR-T cells in the field of anti-aging are very promising." as introduced by a scientist from Creative Biolabs, a biotechnology company focusing on CAR-T therapy development services.

We are entering an exciting era of anti-aging research. Over 30 years of basic research makes the foundation for aging research more solid, and clinical research has begun. Although there are still great difficulties in transferring research to humans, the potential benefits far outweigh the risks.