...Restoration of telomerase activity in these mice, by reintroduction of 1 copy of the Terc gene, rescues critically short telomeres and reverses defects associated with late-generation telomerase deficiency. Telomerase is preferentially recruited to the shortest telomeres. Therapies aimed to re-activate telomerase and elongate short telomeres with age could therefore have significant anti-ageing effects. TA-65 is a small-molecule telomerase activator purified from the root of Astragalus membranaceous; a plant commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine, that was identified in an empirical screen based on its ability to upregulate basal telomerase activity levels in human cells and has been studied in humans as a dietary supplement...
Test the First Gene Therapy Against Aging-associated Decline
More healthy years
As Blasco says, "ageing is not currently regarded as a disease, but researchers tend increasingly to view it as the common origin of conditions like insulin resistance or cardiovascular disease, whose incidence rises with age. In treating cell ageing, we could prevent these diseases".
With regard to the therapy under testing, Bosch explains:
"Because the vector we use expresses the target gene (telomerase) over a long period, we were able to apply a single treatment. This might be the only practical solution for an anti-ageing therapy, since other strategies would require the drug to be administered over the patient's lifetime, multiplying the risk of adverse effects".
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