Intermittent fasting must be good for stem cells, right? It’s not so clear. Like many things in biology, intermittent fasting can have seemingly opposite effects.
Before we get into that, the news of the week is that the FDA approved Mesoblast’s Ryoncil MSC drug for some cases of pediatric GvHD. This has sparked lively discussion. Some have let me know they didn’t feel Mesoblast had enough data. Others are excited about the approval. What do you think? Investors may be overexcited about it as the actual use of Ryoncil in the U.S. could be fairly limited.
Oddly, there has been zero major media coverage of the Mesoblast approval. I haven’t even seen anything in STAT News.
Back to fasting and other news of the week. Let’s start with a new paper on fasting and hair regeneration in mice.
Intermittent fasting and stem cells
Intermittent Fasting in Mice Slows Hair Regeneration, Triggers Apoptosis in Hair Follicle Stem Cells, GEN. Intermittent fasting has gotten so much attention, but there are likely to be risks.
It’s interesting that this article and the original Cell paper “Intermittent fasting triggers interorgan communication to suppress hair follicle regeneration.” stress the benefits of intermittent fasting too.
Another recent article suggested that eating after fasting might raise cancer risks.
I asked Shiri Gur-Cohen, assistant professor at UCSD and stem cell biologist who has expertise in epidermal stem cells, for her take. Shiri wrote:
“Stem cells appear to be quite resilient to fasting in my view, with apoptosis primarily occurring in progenitor cells rather than in bulge stem cells themselves. The human data supports this observation, as human hair is predominantly in full anagen, a phase when stem cells are not active, and the process involves fully differentiated cells. Interestingly, a high-fat diet induces hair loss, leading me to wonder whether the observed phenotype is more about the switch in fat percentage, which is already so low to begin with.”
As a side note, Shiri won The Niche stem cell image contest a few years back with a stunning image of regenerated hair follicles that I’ve included above.
More recommended reads
- RFK Jr. could prove a surprise boon for stem-cell stocks with pivotal year ahead,Market Watch. Lower standards at the FDA could lead to more regenerative product approvals over the next 1-4 years. This may not be a boom though if the stem cells or other biologics are actually not approval-worthy. I’m not saying that’s the case for the stocks mentioned in this article, but it’s a risk more generally. In the context of Kennedy and stem cells, unproven clinics may benefit. Note that the Market Watch piece highlighted Mesoblast, which as I noted above, just got approval of its MSC therapy for GvHD in advance of the new administration.
- A ‘Second Tree of Life’ Could Wreak Havoc, Scientists Warn, NYT. Is this fear about so-called mirror cells overblown?
- Ardent Animal Health, LLC, FDA. The agency has been more active in the veterinary regenerative medicine space. Two products, Acti-Stem Therapy and PureVet PRP, are the focus here. There was a warning to Safari Regenerative Therapy earlier this year.
-
Colorectal Tumors are Born When Stem Cells Die,The Scientist Magazine.
Blast from the past: having a blastema
From 2011: If I only had a blastema: obstacles to human regeneration. What is a blastema? Read the post. It could be the ticket to regrowing human fingers, legs, and even internal organs, if we could only trigger its formation in people.