Drug rescues cells that age too fast.People with the rare genetic disease Werner syndrome Werner syndrome is a very rare, autosomal recessive disorder; its most recognizable characteristic is premature aging. Werner's syndrome more closely resembles "accelerated aging" than any other "segmental progeria. appear to age at up to five times the normal rate. Furthermore, their cells and tissues undergo early senescence senescence /se·nes·cence/ (se-nes´ens) the process of growing old, especially the condition resulting from the transitions and accumulations of the deleterious aging processes. se·nes·cence n. and death. Scientists have now identified a potential drug that slows aging processes
David Kipling's team at Cardiff University in Wales Wales, Welsh Cymru, western peninsula and political division (principality) of Great Britain (1991 pop. 2,798,200), 8,016 sq mi (20,761 sq km), west of England; politically united with England since 1536. The capital is Cardiff. discovered that early deaths of Werner patients' cells trace, in part, to an overactive o·ver·ac·tive adj. Active to an excessive or abnormal degree: an overactive child. o enzyme--P38 MAP kinase--that's involved in stress and inflammation. The researchers learned of an agent that inhibits the enzyme, so they tried treating Werner cells in test tubes with the compound, known at this point as SB203580. Although Werner cells typically look stressed, as indicated by fiber bundles within, those treated for a few weeks with SB203580 regained a youthful appearance. If daily doses of treatment continued, the cells also had normal life spans. The findings "give us a road map to potentially develop a therapy," Kipling says. Moreover, he notes, because cancer and other conditions can also overstimulate the kinase, drugs that control it might someday be useful against several diseases. |
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