Key points from article :
The secret to living past 110 may be an increase in killer cells in the bloodstream.
New study focused on whole blood collection, because blood draws are relatively simple.
Isolated immune cells from blood of 7 supercentenarians and 5 control aged 50 - 80.
Single-cell transcriptomics employed to find out what each of the immune cells do individually.
Method measures messenger RNA produced by hundreds of thousands of genes within a cell.
Finding: Large proportion of supercentenarians' immune cells were from a subset called CD4 CTLs.
It is a kind of T helper cell, rare and can directly attack and kill other cells.
In supercentenarians, about 25% of all helper Ts consisted of cytotoxic version.
The study can't prove that the immune cells are the direct cause of extreme longevity.
Next step is to figure out what cytotoxic T cells do in humans.
Researchers from Riken and Centre for Supercentenarian Medical Research - Keio University.
Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
