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As humans age, hematopoietic stem cells—the immature precursor cells that give rise to all blood and immune cells—accumulate mutations. Some of the mutations allow these stem cells to self-renew and expand more effectively than their non-mutated counterparts. This relatively poorly understood condition, known as clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), is detectable in more than 10% of people older than 65 and is linked to increased risks of various inflammation-related diseases. "These mutations change the character of the progeny cells, making them more inflammatory," says George Hajishengallis. "When a large fraction of your immune cells are derived from these mutant...

Protein imbalances that increase brain cell excitability may explain why individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) who also experience seizures demonstrate more rapid cognitive decline than those who do not experience seizures. These imbalances may be present in the brains of individuals before the onset of AD symptoms. The team found that an existing drug called rapamycin, initially developed as an immunosuppressant for organ transplant patients that suppresses signaling between neurons, was able to regulate the over-excited neurons in mouse models of AD and seizures, and preserve cognitive function, like memory and the ability to learn new things. "Experts used to...

Discovered in a mysterious land, rapamycin can slow the growth of everything from wrinkles to cancer. Scientists are still uncovering the secrets of a compound discovered 50 years ago on Easter Island. Produced by bacteria there, rapamycin appears to be a powerful life-extender and may be a transformative treatment for age-related diseases. In 2009, the National Institute on Aging Interventions Testing Program (ITP) published a groundbreaking study indicating that rapamycin extended the lifespan of mice by 9 percent to 14 percent. Experiments conducted by various research institutions worldwide have further corroborated these findings or have found the compound to have...

The mTOR (Target of Rapamycin) pathway is involved in both cancer and aging. Furthermore, common cancers are age-related diseases, and their incidence increases exponentially with age. In his new research perspective, Mikhail V. Blagosklonny, M.D., Ph.D. discusses rapamycin and other rapalogs and their potential to delay cancer by targeting pre-cancerous cells and slowing down organismal aging. "Rapamycin (sirolimus) and other rapalogs (everolimus) are anti-cancer and anti-aging drugs, which delay cancer by directly targeting pre-cancerous cells and, indirectly, by slowing down organism aging," state the researchers. Cancer is an age-related disease and, figuratively, by slowing down time (and aging), rapamycin may...

Sepsis, one of the most acute and serious disease complications in the intensive care unit, is caused by various infections and results in life-threatening organ dysfunction. The intestinal barrier plays a vital role in the process of sepsis, and its disruption exacerbates sepsis. A study has found that promoting autophagy, the process by which cells break down and destroy damaged or abnormal proteins, with rapamycin, an immunosuppressant, reduced intestinal epithelial cell death and restored intestinal barrier function during sepsis. The study also suggests that the interplay of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a negative regulator of autophagy, and polo-like kinase...

Imagine you could take a medicine that prevents the decline that come with age and keeps you healthy. The current most promising anti-aging drug is rapamycin, known for its positive effects on life and health span in experimental studies with laboratory animals. To obtain the maximum beneficial effects of the drug, it is often given lifelong. However, even at the low doses used in prevention for age-related decline, negative side effects may occur, and it is always desirable to use the lowest effective dose. A research group has shown in laboratory animals that brief exposure to rapamycin has the same...

Chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are inflammations of the gastrointestinal tract which flare up in phases and are accompanied by bloody bowel movements, diarrhea and severe impairment of the quality of life. IBD patients exhibit an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer. This is facilitated by the fact that DNA in the intestinal mucosa cells (intestinal epithelium) is damaged by chronic inflammatory processes. Upon DNA damage, a cell in a healthy state protects itself from accumulation of a defective genome by not dividing further. However, these protective mechanisms are suspended under inflammatory conditions, which promotes the development of bowel cancer....

SEATTLE — Ever since last summer, when Lynn Gemmell’s dog was inducted into the trial of a drug that has been shown to significantly lengthen the lives of laboratory mice, she has been the object of intense scrutiny among dog park regulars. To those who insist that Bela, 8, has turned back into a puppy — “Look how fast she’s getting that ball!” — Ms. Gemmell has tried to turn a deaf ear. Bela, a Border collie-Australian shepherd mix, may have been given a placebo, for one thing. The drug, rapamycin, which improved the heart health and appeared to delay...

SCIENTISTS say they have discovered a wonder drug that could help people live up to ten years longer. Rapamycin is a bacterial product found in soil samples on remote Easter Island in the South Pacific. It works by inhibiting a protein called TOR that plays a key role in cell growth. Rapamycin is widely used to stop transplant patients rejecting their new organs.

Researchers could be closing in on a "fountain of youth" drug that can delay the effects of aging and improve the health of older adults, a new study suggests. Seniors received a significant boost to their immune systems when given a drug that targets a genetic signaling pathway linked to aging and immune function, researchers with the drug maker Novartis report. The experimental medication, a version of the drug rapamycin, improved the seniors' immune response to a flu vaccine by 20 percent, researchers said in the current issue of Science Translational Medicine. The study is a "watershed" moment for research...

Cognitive skills such as learning and memory diminish with age in everyone, and the drop-off is steepest in Alzheimer's disease. Texas scientists seeking a way to prevent this decline reported exciting results this week with a drug that has Polynesian roots. Rapamycin, a bacterial product first isolated from soil on Easter Island, enhanced learning and memory in young mice and improved these faculties in old mice, the study showed.

The discovery has implications for the treatment of several diseases—as well as normal aging in healthy people. The drug rapamycin has been found to reverse the effects of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a fatal genetic disease that resembles rapid aging, in cells taken from patients with the disease. Rapamycin, an immunosuppressant drug used to prevent rejection of transplanted organs, has already been shown to extend life span in healthy mice. Researchers hope the findings will provide new insight into treating progeria as well as other age-related diseases. Skin cells from patients with progeria show a slew of defects: deformities in their...

Bacterial Product Isolated in Soil from Easter Island Rescues Learning, Memory in Alzheimer's Mouse Model Rapamycin, a drug that keeps the immune system from attacking transplanted organs, may have another exciting use: fighting Alzheimer's disease. The drug -- a bacterial product first isolated in soil from Easter Island -- rescued learning and memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's, a team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio reported on Feb. 23. The study, in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, offers the first evidence that the drug is able to reverse Alzheimer's-like deficits in an...

Rapamycin proves mettle in second model of memory-robbing diseaseSAN ANTONIO (April 1, 2010) — If research results continue to be repeated and are turned into clinical trials, a drug already approved for some uses could be marshaled — sooner than we expect — to prevent Alzheimer's disease in humans and improve health to the end of life. A few weeks after a report that rapamycin, a drug that extends lifespan in mice and that is currently used in transplant patients, curbed the effects of Alzheimer's disease in mice, a second group is announcing similar results in an entirely different mouse...

Could a pill one day slow ageing in humans?Punchstock Rapamycin, a drug commonly used in humans to prevent transplanted organs from being rejected, has been found to extend the lives of mice by up to 14% — even when given to the mice late in life. In flies and worms, drug treatments have been shown to prolong lifespan, but until now, the only robust way to extend life in mammals has been to heavily restrict diet. The researchers caution, however, that using this drug to extend the lifespan of humans might be problematic because it suppresses the immune system —...