"Brain Cells in Their 60s Rejuvenated to Teenagers' Level"… Japan Observes Neural Stem Cell Changes in Animal Experiments

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[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Japanese researchers have succeeded in rejuvenating neural stem cells in the brain through genetic modification in animal experiments.

On the 16th (local time), Asahi Shimbun reported that a research team at Kyoto University's Institute for Virus Research and Regenerative Medicine succeeded in rejuvenating cells from their 60s to resemble those of teenagers. The team reportedly activated brain neural stem cells through genetic modification, improving cognitive functions in experimental mice.

Guest professor Ryoichiro Kageyama of the research team stated, "Comparing to humans, it is like a person in their 60s having neural stem cells of a teenager, and we want to find ways to apply this to the human brain."

Elderly population. / Photo by Yonhap News

'Neural stem cells' are pluripotent cells that can differentiate into various types of nerve cells. Neural stem cells in the brain proliferate actively during the fetal stage to increase nerve cells, but lose their proliferative ability with aging. This is related to brain diseases such as Alzheimer's, epilepsy, and nerve disorders caused by brain damage.

The research team compared genes active in neural stem cells of fetal and elderly mice and identified genes that activate neural stem cells which function well in fetuses.

They also found that suppressing genes active in neural stem cells of elderly mice can activate the neural stem cells.

Based on this, they discovered a method to maximally activate neural stem cells by actively promoting genes found in fetal mice and suppressing genes found in elderly mice.

The research team plans to verify whether this method is effective in primates through experiments on marmosets. However, the team noted, "Genetic modification in mice involves inserting genes into the brain using viruses, so it is difficult to directly apply this to humans."

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