Mice reprogram gut tissue to a fetal state to heal injury
New research shows that mice reprogram the gut tissue to repair injuries, transforming them from an older state to one more like a fetus.
It’s one thing to grow old, but it’s another to age in a healthy manner. There are many diseases and disorders that affect the elderly, from diabetes and cardiovascular disease to Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. It would be great if we were able to keep our bodies young and prevent diseases associated with old age. Would it be possible, for example, to reverse or slow down the aging process in our cells?
Scientists have been very interested in this question, and their research led them to discover the role played by the shortening telomeres – the protective caps that cover our DNA – in the aging process. This has been discussed in previous posts on the LEAF Blog, but I’d like to focus on another mechanism which has made an interesting breakthrough, more or less accidentally: tissue rejuvenation.
Recently, the term rejuvenation has been used to describe senolytics. These compounds are newly discovered and reduce the number of senescent (old) cells in the human body. In this article, rejuvenation is defined as the reset of a gene program in a cell or tissue from adult to fetal. Cells are usually developed from stem cells. Stem cells can be differentiated into many types of cells. During differentiation, some genetic programs are switched off in stem cells, and others are turned back on, allowing a particular cell type to be formed. This process is reversed during rejuvenation: differentiated stem cells are returned to their embryonic state.
Source:
https://www.leafscience.org/mice-reprogram-gut-tissue-to-heal-injury/
