Restoring youthful levels of specific subunit of telomerase enzyme reverses multiple hallmarks of aging in mice. Study in Cell Press shows maintaining TERT levels in aged animals reduced cellular senescence, improving memory & neuromuscular function.
TERT activation targets DNA methylation and multiple aging hallmarks
Highlights
TERT has been linked directly or indirectly to all hallmarks of aging
TERT gene is epigenetically repressed with onset of aging markers in all tissues
TAC restores TERT levels to promote telomere maintenance and reprogram gene expression
TAC in aged mice reduces senescence/inflammation and increases neurogenesis/cognition
It’s a simple enough compound I could probably get some made, if there’s enough of a market of educated folks.
But there’s no human safety data (or even proper animal safety tests in the paper). Generally I don’t like people trying things without at least phase I style testing. In this case the hit and run dosing makes the risks a bit smaller, but we should maybe consider repurposing existing drugs to hit the same pathway.
Telomere length is not a limiting factor for longevity (yet)
Exogenous TERT increases female mice lifespan by about 27-28% (relative to a 900 day control), when given at the equivalent age of a 56 yr old human. Larger sample size studies would be nice, but I think it’s already clear that telomerase is quite possibly a limiting factor in human longevity as well. Keep in mind, mice die more easily from cancer than humans.
TAC was shown to reach numerous tissues and organs, including, importantly, the central nervous system, and to be cleared from the organism in about three hours.
This, according to the researchers, was enough to improve multiple hallmarks of aging.
