Key points from article :
Old mice that were paired with young mice surgically healed as if they were young.
Something in the young blood was signalling the satellite cells of old mice to divide and grow efficiently.
Satellite cells are partially-differentiated stem cells.
A signal molecule Delta was present in the young mouse blood, but missing in older mice.
Responding to the Delta and TGF-B, old satellite cells were reprogrammed to act young.
In human cell cultures- old, inactive stem cells were rejuvenated by treatment with young blood plasma.
Another paper culminates a proposal for whole-body rejuvenation that might be practical.
Safety in humans has already been established - people might be willing to try it.
Idea is to transfuse older subjects with blood plasma from a young donor.
This will not only engender a more youthful phenotype, but also a youthful gene expression profile.
Research by Dr. Katcher published in Programmed Aging.
