Mice injected with a microRNA molecule lived longer and had fewer markers of ageing
Injecting old mice with an RNA molecule seems to reverse some signs of ageing — helping them to live longer, regrow hair and maintain their physical and mental abilities.
The treatment, described in Cell Metabolism on 15 January1, works by targeting one of the key hallmarks of the ageing process: a stage called cellular senescence, in which cells lose their ability to replicate. Researchers hope the findings could one day lead to the development of anti-ageing drugs, but more work is needed to determine whether they translate to people.
As people age, more of their cells become senescent and release chemicals called cytokines, which can trigger inflammation. This reduces the body’s ability to withstand illness and to heal, and has been linked to conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and declines in cognitive function.
Now, researchers have zeroed in on a molecule, called miR-302b, that could help to slow down this ageing process. The molecule is a microRNA, a small non-coding piece of RNA involved in gene regulation that has previously been found to be involved in immunity and suppressing cancer cells.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00032-3?linkId=12580595
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Very interesting! Preventing senescence seems like a great way to rejuvenate mammals. I believe the Japanese were working on this as a so-called ‘longevity vaccine’. Any word on this research?
But, will it work on humans? I hope so.
Here’s the link to the Japanese research:
HTTP://en.juntendo.ac.jp/highlights/news/nid69
And the 2024 update
https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/45/Supplement_1/ehae666.3654/7838355
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It seems there are two ways to stop the detrimental senescence-associated secretory phenotype by either killing of senescent cells (senolytics or “vaccination” as posted by @DeStrider above) or by reversing proliferative arrest such as proposed by the paper posted by @RapAdmin above. It will be interesting to see which strategy is more beneficial for longevity in humans. Reversing the proliferative arrest somehow sounds like a potential “pro-oncogenic” strategy.
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