Mouse Lifespan Extended Up to 24% with Telomerase Treatment

[TECH NEWS]

Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), led by its director Maria Blasco, have proved that mouse lifespan can be extended by the application in adult life of a single treatment acting directly on the animal’s genes using the enzyme telomerase. It appears to be the first successful use of gene therapy to combat aging. The results are published May 15 in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine. The CNIO team, in collaboration with Eduard Ayuso and Fatima Bosch of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), treated adult (one-year-old) and aged (two-year-old) mice, with the gene therapy delivering a “rejuvenating” effect in both cases, according to the authors. Mice treated at the age of one lived longer by 24% on average, and those treated at the age of two, by 13%. The therapy, furthermore, produced an appreciable improvement in the animals’ health, delaying the onset of age-related diseases—like osteoporosis and insulin resistance—and achieving improved readings on aging indicators like neuromuscular coordination.

May 15, 2012, CNIO