Aging is associated with increased frailty, reduced organ function, and an elevated risk of diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration. In a study published today (October 19) in Science Advances, researchers report that they have temporarily delayed or reversed some of these age-related changes in mice using extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from younger animals’ stem cells. Just two weeks of treatment increased older mice’s physical strength, triggered signs of regeneration in several tissues, and reduced certain organs’ biological age as measured by epigenetic biomarkers.
The findings add to existing evidence that stem cell–derived EVs might offer a promising therapeutic route for targeting age-related disease, says Paul Robbins, a researcher at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Biology of Aging and Metabolism who was not involved in the work. While the mechanisms underlying the reported effects aren’t completely clear, “the fact that short-term treatment had such an effect on multiple ...
