Lifeboat Foundation

Newswise — LOS ANGELES (Oct. 28, 2022) — Cedars-Sinai has been awarded a five-year, $8 million grant from California’s stem cell agency to launch an innovative new clinic that will expand patients’ access to stem cell and gene therapies, increase research and training in regenerative medicine, foster greater collaboration with eight similar clinics across the state and help educate the public about stem cell and related therapies.

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved Cedars-Sinai’s plan to establish an Alpha Stem Cell Clinic, bringing Cedars-Sinai into a network of Alpha sites throughout California. The Cedars-Sinai clinic will develop preclinical studies into early and later phase clinical trials with the goal of establishing advanced regenerative medicine treatments that are FDA-approved for patients with debilitating diseases.

The Cedars-Sinai initiative is being led by the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute and the Smidt Heart Institute. They are modeling the new Alpha Clinic on a jointly run Regenerative Medicine Clinic established at Cedars-Sinai in 2014—expanding scientific discovery and clinical trials for neurological, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases.

It was in 1975 when scientists from Ayerst (now Pfizer) discovered a novel compound called rapamycin (also known as Sirolimus) in bacteria on Rapa Nui(Easter Island) in Chile. In 1999 rapamycin obtained FDA approval for the prevention of acute rejection of renal transplant. Unknown at the time, rapamycin would become the most potent anti-aging drug that humans currently hold.

This is the first article of a two-part series on rapamycin.

The profound effect rapamycin has on lifespan was first observed in yeast cells, and later confirmed in every model organism tested, including the nematode C. elegans, fruit flies, and mice.

To test the interaction between senolytic removal of senescent cells and cellular reprograming, we designed a model combining these two interventions in an inducible overexpression system in Drosophila. First, we used the four Yamanaka factor based OKSM approach as this had been previously shown to induce pluripotent stem cells in mice [7], humans [29 – 31] and non-mammalian vertebrate and invertebrate species [32]. To make a senolytic factor for Drosophila, we took advantage of the mouse sequence (FOXO4-DRI [22]) to design an orthologous peptide based on the Drosophila foxo (forkhead box, sub-group O) gene [33]. We then characterized effects of these two interventions independently as well as in combination.

We began by looking at the effect of OKSM and Sen on stem cells in an intestinal stem cell (ISC) model [34, 35]. We chose to investigate phenotypic effects specifically in the digestive system of Drosophila (Supplementary Figure 1). As in mammals, the Drosophila gastric lining has a high turnover of cells which is enabled by stem cell pools that replenish the epithelia [34]. Age-dependent loss of stem cells and degradation of barrier function has been shown to contribute to age-dependent functional decline and mortality in Drosophila [36]. The Drosophila gut is composed of four cell types: enterocytes (ECs or absorptive cells), enteroendocrine (EEs or secretory cells), enteroblasts (EBs or transit amplifying cells) and intestinal stem cells (ISCs).

When we think about aging, one of the first thoughts that comes to mind is wrinkled and sagging skin as well as the greying and loss of hair – simply put, the physical changes to appearance that we associated with advancing age. These changes are the most striking reflection of the underlying molecular aging processes that are happening inside our bodies.

The current size of the cosmetic industry alone highlights that physical appearance is important to people. As we continue developing strategies to improve longevity allowing us to live longer and in far better health, people will inevitably want a “youthful appearance” to match their newfound “youthful state”. Furthermore, as this report explains in more detail, aesthetic aging plays a significant and grossly underappreciated role in influencing the rate of biological aging.

It is fair to say that the cosmetic industry alone might not be enough to address aesthetic aging from a longevity point of view, as cosmetic products work to conceal the signs of aging. We need tactics that can address the underlying causes of skin and hair aging to achieve long-term benefits and halt the fine interlink between aesthetic aging and biological aging. This is where advanced aesthetics comes in.

Biotech company Mogling Bio has successfully has completed its first seed investment round with a sole investor, Kizoo Technology Capital.

Mogling Bio is developing new pharmacological approaches to rejuvenate old stem cells of the hematopoietic (blood cell formation) system.

Ageing causes stem cells to lose their normal structure by increased activity of the protein CDC42. Normalising CDC42 activity can restore structure, order and functionality in those aged stem cells.

Turn.bio has announced that its proprietary cellular reprogramming technology was able to significantly increase the proliferative and cytotoxic potential of premanufactured CAR-T cells in vitro.

Turn.bio, a developer of mRNA-based cellular reprogramming technologies, has announced preliminary results from its current trial. The announcement was made by the company’s co-founder, Prof. Vittorio Sebastiano, at the New Frontiers of RNA Nanotherapeutics conference at Houston Methodist Research Institute. These results show that the company’s proprietary Epigenetic Reprogramming of Aging (ERA) technology greatly increases the fitness of CAR-T cells, which are widely used in modern immunotherapy.

T cell exhaustion is a big problem.

The Aging and Drug Discovery Conference (ARDD) 2022 is pleased to present Alex Zhavoronkov from Insilico, with the talk A case study of the application of Pharma. AI platform for discovery and development of dual-purpose therapeutics targeting aging and disease.

Held in Copenhagen at the glorious Ceremonial Hall, this meeting gathers the most prominent figures of the aging and longevity research field, from scientists to clinicians, investors, developers, and everything in between. The fast growth of the conference is evidence of its great quality of it. In 2022 we had around 400 people on-site, and many others joined through the web.

Continue reading “Alex Zhavoronkov, ARDD2022: Pharma.AI platform for discovery and development of aging therapeutics” »

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Continue reading “Quantifying Biological Age: Blood Test #6 in 2022” »

Short clip of Michael Levin, an American developmental and synthetic biologist at Tufts University, talking about Planarian and their capacity to regenerate their organs indefinetely, which makes then biologically immortal.

The remarks where given during a fascinating three-hour-long conversation with Lex Fridman that was aired on october 1st, 2022.

Continue reading “Planarian don’t age, there isn’t such thing as an old Planaria” »