Scientists reverse ageing process in rat brain cells
Boost for MS treatment as scientists reverse ageing process
in rat brain cells
Brains
get stiff with age just like muscles and joints, scientists have said.
New
research indicates that increasing brain stiffness with age causes brain stem
dysfunction.
But
scientists have demonstrated ways to return older stem cells to a younger, healthier
state, potentially affecting future treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS).
The team,
based at the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute (University of
Cambridge), studied old and young rat brains to understand the impact of
age-related stiffening on oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs).
These
cells are vital for maintaining normal brain function, and for the regeneration
of myelin – the fatty sheath that surrounds nerves and which is damaged in
multiple sclerosis (MS).
The
effects of age on these cells contributes to MS, but their function also
declines with age in healthy people.
Dr Kevin Chalut, who co-led the research,
said: “We were fascinated to see that when we grew young, functioning rat brain
stem cells on the stiff material, the cells became dysfunctional and lost their
ability to regenerate, and in fact began to function like aged cells.
“What was especially interesting, however,
was that when the old brain cells were grown on the soft material, they began
to function like young cells – in other words, they were rejuvenated.”
In the study published in the Nature journal,
researchers transplanted older OPCs from aged rats into the soft, spongy brains
of younger animals.
They found that the older brain cells were
rejuvenated, and began to behave like the younger, more vigorous cells.
Next, the researchers developed new materials
in the lab with varying degrees of stiffness, and used these to grow and study
the rat brain stem cells in a controlled environment.
The materials were engineered to have a
similar softness to either young or old brains.
To fully understand how brain softness and
stiffness influences cell behaviour, the researchers investigated Piezo1 – a
protein found on the cell surface, which informs the cell whether the
surrounding environment is soft or stiff.
“When we removed Piezo1 from the surface of aged
brain stem cells, we were able to trick the cells into perceiving a soft
surrounding environment, even when they were growing on the stiff material,”
said Professor Robin Franklin, who co-led the research.
Dr Susan Kohlhaas, director of research at the
MS Society, which part-funded the research, said: “MS is relentless, painful
and disabling, and treatments that can slow and prevent the accumulation of
disability over time are desperately needed.
“The Cambridge team’s discoveries on how
brain stem cells age and how this process might be reversed have important
implications for future treatment, because it gives us a new target to address
issues associated with ageing and MS, including how to potentially regain lost
function in the brain.”
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