LOOK YOUNG?

by Bernice Ho

Figure 1 shows how iPS cells could differentiate into specialised cells like neural cells, Adipocytes and Cardiomyocytes etc.

Figure 2: Stem cell biology e aim of cell reprogramming is to convert 5stem cells to desired cell types. e most direct way of di erentiating 6stem cells is to mimic the development of an inner cell mass during gastrulation. During gastrulation, pluripotent stem cells di erentiate into ectodermal, mesodermal, or endodermal progenitors. Mall molecules or growth factors induce the conversion of stem cells into appropriate progenitor cells, which will later give rise to the desired cell type. But, of course, there are many other ways of di erentiating a stem cell.

Turning Back the Ageing Clock

On 8th April 2022, scientists from the Babraham Institute, and a life sciences research institute in Cambridge, published an article on eLifesciences. The research team successfully 7rejuvenated a 50-year-old woman’s skin cells into behaving and looking as if they came from a 23-year-old in only 13 days.

Not only have they furthered the use of IPS cells, they have even developed the 8first ‘maturation phase transient reprogramming’ (MPTR) method, where reprogramming factors were expressed until a certain rejuvenation point followed by withdrawal of their induction. Cells’ fibroblast identity was found to be temporarily lost and then re-acquired during MPTR. This could be a result of epigenetic memory at enhancers and/or persistent expression of some fibroblast genes through using dermal fibroblasts from middle age donors. Amazingly,9 their method substantially rejuvenated multiple cellular attributes including the transcriptome (the array of mRNA transcripts produced), which was rejuvenated by around 30 years as measured by a novel transcriptome clock (Aging clock dissociates biological from chronological age).

However, for now, 10the MPTR technique will not be ready for use in clinics due to the potential increases in the risk of cancer brought on by genetic changes within the cells. Yet, scientists are confident that they can find a safer method to rejuvenate cells, and believe that they can apply the same technique to other tissues in the body. Ultimately, scientists are hoping to develop treatments for age-related diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, and neurological disorders.

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-rewind-the-age-of-human-skin-cells-back-30-years

Potential applications of cell reprogramming

Cell reprogramming has the potential to become huge in the medical eld as iPS cells play a vast role in developing restorative medicine. 11Serious medical conditions, like cancer, are caused by improper di erentiation or cell division. Even though cell reprogramming isn’t vastly used to cure cancer, currently, several stem cell therapies are possible, among which are treatments for spinal cord injuries and heart failure12.

By furthering study in cell reprogramming, we may be able to nd a cure for chronic diseases. One example is Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which is the most prevalent age-related dementia in the world. e underlying mechanisms of AD remain unclear. In recent years, upon the improvement of induced pluripotent stem cell technology and direct cell reprogramming technology, it has become possible to induce non-neuronal cells, such as broblasts or glial cells, directly into neuronal cells in vitro and in vivo. e induced neuronal cells are functional and can integrate into the local neural net. ese incredible ndings are encouraging and can provide a new clinical approach to treating AD.

https://www.kindpng.com/imgv/hbwmixJ_picture-cancer-vs-normal-cell-division-hd-png/

Other than being able to use cell reprogramming in the medical eld, 13cell reprogramming also gives a plausible answer for avoiding the use of human embryonic cells in experimental research and clinical medicine, which is ethically unacceptable, as obtaining these cells requires the destruction of human embryos. Cell reprogramming is considered a much better option than the use of embryonic stem cells.

Conclusion

Cell reprogramming has led to many new findings, for example, cell rejuvenation of a 50-year’s old woman’s skin cells into a 23 year old’s skin in a very short period of time. Even though cell rejuvenation is just a very small part of cell reprogramming, there are many things to explore within this research field. Hopefully, in the near future, cell reprogramming will be able to be used in many different therapeutic areas to improve our healthy lifespan and save thousands of lives.

Bibliography

[1]“Rejuvenation of Woman’s Skin Could Tackle Diseases of Ageing.” BBC News, 8 Apr. 2022, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60991675.

[2]“Rejuvenation of Woman’s Skin Could Tackle Diseases of Ageing.” BBC News, 8 Apr. 2022, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60991675.

[3]Roslin Institute. “The Life of Dolly | Dolly the Sheep.” Ed.ac.uk, 2019, dolly.roslin.ed.ac.uk/facts/the-life-of-dolly/index.html.

[4]“Shinya.yamanaka@Gladstone.ucsf.edu.” Gladstone.org, gladstone.org/people/shinya-yamanaka#:~:text=In%202006%2C%20Shinya%20 Yamanaka%20discovered.

[5]Zakrzewski, Wojciech, et al. “Stem Cells: Past, Present, and Future.” Stem Cell Research & Therapy, vol. 10, no. 1, 26 Feb. 2019, stemcellres. biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13287-019-1165-5, 10.1186/s13287-019-1165-5.

[6]Zakrzewski, Wojciech, et al. “Stem Cells: Past, Present, and Future.” Stem Cell Research & Therapy, vol. 10, no. 1, 26 Feb. 2019, stemcellres. biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13287-019-1165-5, 10.1186/s13287-019-1165-5.

[7]“Rejuvenation of Woman’s Skin Could Tackle Diseases of Ageing.” BBC News, 8 Apr. 2022, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60991675.

[8]Gill, Diljeet, et al. “Multi-Omic Rejuvenation of Human Cells by Maturation Phase Transient Reprogramming.” ELife, vol. 11, 8 Apr. 2022, 10.7554/elife.71624. Accessed 13 Apr. 2022.

[9]Gill, Diljeet, et al. “Multi-Omic Rejuvenation of Human Cells by Maturation Phase Transient Reprogramming.” ELife, vol. 11, 8 Apr. 2022, 10.7554/elife.71624. Accessed 13 Apr. 2022.

[10]“Rejuvenation of Woman’s Skin Could Tackle Diseases of Ageing.” BBC News, 8 Apr. 2022, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60991675.

[11]Zakrzewski, Wojciech, et al. “Stem Cells: Past, Present, and Future.” Stem Cell Research & Therapy, vol. 10, no. 1, 26 Feb. 2019, stemcellres. biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13287-019-1165-5, 10.1186/s13287-019-1165-5.

[12]Menasché, Philippe, et al. “Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiac Progenitors for Severe Heart Failure Treatment: First Clinical Case Report: Figure 1.” European Heart Journal, vol. 36, no. 30, 19 May 2015, pp. 2011–2017, academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/36/30/2011/2398140, 10.1093/eurheartj/ehv189.

[13]Aznar Lucea, Justo, and Miriam Martínez. “[Ethical Reflections on Cell Reprogramming].” Cuadernos de Bioetica: Revista Oficial de La Asociacion Espanola de Bioetica Y Etica Medica, vol. 23, no. 78, 2012, pp. 287–299, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23130744/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2022.