Slowing down the dreaded aging process is something that interests everyone, and now scientists have discovered a new pathway. The team discovered a feedback loop in the brain and found that increasing the activity of that circuit helped mice live longer and healthier lives. In the new study, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identified a line of communication between the brain and fat storage, which plays a key role in the body's energy production system.
As with many things, this connection slows down with age, leading to some of the health problems that plague us in our later years, such as weight gain.
On the bright side, the team also found that they could activate this system in mice, counteracting these negative effects, extending their lifespan and keeping them healthy for longer. With more work, this has the potential to be applied to humans as well.
The breakthrough began when scientists discovered a specific group of neurons in a region of the brain called the dorsomedial hypothalamus. Studies have found that when these neurons are active, they produce a protein called ppp1r17, which triggers a cascade of events that activate white adipose tissue in the body. This will cause the white adipose tissue to release two substances – first, the fatty acids enter the bloodstream, where they are used to provide energy for physical activity. Secondly, one is called"enampt"The enzymes are released back into the hypothalamus to provide energy for brain function.
While this system works well when it is younger, it begins to slow down as it ages naturally. The team found that in older animals, PPP1R17 leaves the neuronal nucleus and reduces the intensity of its signal. As the use of the nervous system to adipose tissue decreases, it shrinks over time and adipose tissue receives fewer signals to release its molecules. This, in turn, leads to fat accumulation, reducing the amount of energy available to the body.
Left: Dense neuronal network between young mouse brain and adipose tissue. Right: The network becomes more sparse during the natural aging process of the Kyohei Tokizane School of Medicine.
But can this process be slowed down? To find out, the researchers activated these neurons in aged mice in two ways. One group of mice knocked out the genes involved in this process, and the other group was supplemented with more enampt.
In both cases, the mice that received ** were more active, showed fewer signs of aging (such as thinning fur) and lived longer than the control mice. Mice that did not receive ** at 1000 days (approx. 2.)7 years), which is the upper limit of natural aging, but the mice that received ** lived 60 to 70 more days – an increase of about 7%.
While there is still a long way to go before this approach can be applied to humans, the team says there is hope. If human life expectancy can also be extended by 7%, then for a person with a life expectancy of 75 years, it is equivalent to living about 5 years more. In addition, patients are able to spend more time in their health.
The study was published in the journal Cell Metabolism.