Three different studies' results have showed that the blood of younger mice can help revive the muscle and brain functions of the older mice - a finding that may be useful in developing treatments for Alzheimer's disease.
Tony Wyss-Coray, lead author of the study and a professor of neurology at Stanford University, used a process called parabiosis for the experiment. Researchers surgically attached the veins of young and old mice to each other to share the same blood supply.
"Their fur looks better, they groom better, they seem to do overall better. To us it's just so surprising, that something so simple has dramatic effects on every tissue in the body that's been looked at," Wyss-Coray told USA Today.
Furthermore, they observed when the brains of old mice were exposed to the brains of young mice, they seemed to recharge, leading the elderly animals to behave like the younger mice. Researchers have yet to find out if the method works on humans, but Wyss-Coray said he'll perform clinical trials on Alzheimer's patients by administering plasma injections from younger people, then observing the effects.
Results of this study were published on the May 4 issue of the journal Nature Medicine.
Two papers coming out in the Science journal this week will be talking about a protein called growth differentiation factor, or GDF11. Analysts have found that this protein is abundant in younger mice, but not so much in older rodents. They gave this protein to older mice and noticed that it allowed for better brain function. GDF11 somehow enabled older mice to grow new blood and brain cells.
Researchers from Harvard University headed up by stem cell biologist Amy Wagers also found that older mice that were given more GDF11 in the blood ran faster on the treadmill and recovered from injuries better. Last year, they also noted that the older mouse heart went back to a younger state when induced with GDF11, Boston Globe reports.
Though GDF11 is also present in humans, the researchers are yet to test if it will yield to same effects to humans. They also needed further analysis to determine if there are side effects.
In light of these studies, research will now focus on determining if GDF11 is the key to unlocking regenerative abilities in the blood.
