AgeX Therapeutics Researchers Publish Paper on the Age Reprogramming of Super-Centenarian Cells
29 February 2020 - 12:00AM
Business Wire
- Cells of 114-year-old converted to young pluripotent stem
cells
- Evidence of reversal of the telomere aging clock in a
supercentenarian
- Supports hypothesis of no upper age limit for reprogramming
cellular aging
- Introduces possibility of identifying the underlying biology of
extreme human lifespan and healthspan
AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (“AgeX”; NYSE American: AGE), a
biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics for human
aging and regeneration, announced a new paper co-authored by two
AgeX scientists that could lead to new insights into the
fundamental mechanisms of aging and why super-centenarians not only
live the longest, but also experience extraordinary healthspans; an
extension of the healthy years of life that compresses morbidity to
a very short period near the end of life. The paper, “Induced
pluripotency and spontaneous reversal of cellular aging in
supercentenarian donor cells,” is published online in the
peer-reviewed scientific journal “Biochemical and Biophysical
Research Communications” from Elsevier. The senior author is Dana
Larocca, PhD, VP of Discovery Research at AgeX, and the first
author is Jieun Lee, PhD, Scientist at AgeX.
“Clearly, we can learn a lot about aging and longevity from the
longest of the long-lived, the supercentenarians, and we hope that
this paper accelerates such research,” commented Dr. Larocca. “Now
that we have converted the cells of one of the longest-lived people
in history, a deceased 114-year-old American woman, to a young
pluripotent state, researchers can do so with cells from other
supercentenarians. The goal is to understand specifically how these
“extreme agers” manage to avoid the major chronic illnesses of
aging better than any other age group including centenarians. We
can essentially put their cells in a time machine and revert them
to an earlier state, then study their biology to help unlock the
mysteries of super-longevity. Scientists have long wondered, and
now we know that we can indeed reset the developmental state and
cellular age in the ‘oldest of the old.’”
By way of comparison, the paper also describes undertaking a
similar process with cells from two other donors: an eight-year-old
with a rapid-aging syndrome commonly known as Progeria, and a
43-year-old, healthy disease-free control (HDC) subject. The paper
notes that the supercentenarian’s cells reverted to induced
pluripotent stem (iPS) cells at the same rate as the HDC subject
and the Progeria patient. However, there may be some negative
impact of extreme age on telomere resetting as this did not occur
as frequently in the supercentenarian as in the other two
donors.
The donated cells were from “the longevity collection,” a cell
bank established by the NIH’s National Institute on Aging.
About AgeX Therapeutics
AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: AGE) is focused on
developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for human
aging. Its PureStem® and UniverCyte™ manufacturing and
immunotolerance technologies are designed to work together to
generate highly-defined, universal, allogeneic, off-the-shelf
pluripotent stem cell-derived young cells of any type for
application in a variety of diseases with a high unmet medical
need. AgeX has two preclinical cell therapy programs: AGEX-VASC1
(vascular progenitor cells) for tissue ischemia and AGEX-BAT1
(brown fat cells) for Type II diabetes. AgeX’s revolutionary
longevity platform induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR™) aims to
unlock cellular immortality and regenerative capacity to reverse
age-related changes within tissues. AGEX-iTR1547 is an iTR-based
formulation in preclinical development. HyStem® is AgeX’s delivery
technology to stably engraft PureStem cell therapies in the body.
AgeX is developing its core product pipeline for use in the clinic
to extend human healthspan and is seeking opportunities to
establish licensing and collaboration agreements around its broad
IP estate and proprietary technology platforms.
For more information, please visit www.agexinc.com or connect
with the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this release are
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are
not historical fact including, but not limited to statements that
contain words such as “will,” “believes,” “plans,” “anticipates,”
“expects,” “estimates” should also be considered forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the
results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such
should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that
affect the business of AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiaries
particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in
more detail in the “Risk Factors” section of AgeX’s Annual Report
on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commissions (copies of which may be
obtained at www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may
cause these forward-looking statements to change. AgeX specifically
disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these
forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or
circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as
required by applicable law.
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Media Contact for AgeX:
Bill Douglass Gotham Communications, LLC bill@gothamcomm.com
(646) 504-0890
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