A new procedure can quickly and efficiently increase the length of - TopicsExpress



          

A new procedure can quickly and efficiently increase the length of human telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that are linked to aging and disease, according to scientists. A new procedure can quickly and efficiently increase the length of human telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that are linked to aging and disease The procedure, which involves the use of a modified type of RNA, will improve the ability of researchers to generate large numbers of cells for study or drug development. Skin cells with telomeres lengthened by the procedure were able to divide up to 40 more times than untreated cells. The RNA used in this experiment contained the coding sequence for TERT, the active component of a naturally occurring enzyme called telomerase. The newly developed technique has an important advantage over other potential methods: Its temporary. The modified RNA is designed to reduce the cells immune response to the treatment and allow the TERT-encoding message to stick around a bit longer than an unmodified message would. But it dissipates and is gone within about 48 hours. After that time, the newly lengthened telomeres begin to progressively shorten again with each cell division. On a biological level, this means the treated cells dont go on to divide indefinitely, which would make them too dangerous to use as a potential therapy in humans because of the risk of cancer. The researchers found that as few as three applications of the modified RNA over a period of a few days could significantly increase the length of the telomeres in cultured human muscle and skin cells. A 1,000-nucleotide addition represents a more than 10 percent increase in the length of the telomeres. These cells divided many more times in the culture dish than did untreated cells: about 28 more times for the skin cells, and about three more times for the muscle cells. Existing transient methods of extending telomeres act slowly, whereas this method acts over just a few days to reverse telomere shortening that occurs over more than a decade of normal aging. This suggests that a treatment using this method could be brief and infrequent.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 14:09:39 +0000

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