Connections between the thymus and aging are growing. Let’s start with that interesting area of research.
The thymus and aging
In Histology class at the med school here we teach that the thymus just naturally involutes. It mostly turns to adipose tissue with age, which is a depressing thought.
A new paper suggests that there are degrees of thymic regression and loss of function. It reports that retaining thymic function correlates with less aging. This is likely tied to a healthier immune system. Eric Topol told me last year that he thinks a major part of aging (and the better healthspans of super ager)s is tied to retained proper immune system activity. Perhaps super agers have more robust thymi?
Here’s the paper: Thymic health consequences in adults, Nature. I’ve written before about the idea of thymic rejuvenation or even thymic transplants. Thymus-like structures can be grown in the lab from stem cells, but they aren’t very advanced so far. Maybe this is a promising frontier in working toward healthier aging. Could the thymus be a target for partial in vivo reprogramming too?
More recommended reads
- Aspen’s personalized Parkinson’s therapy shows early promise, Endpoints. From the piece: “On average, patients gained roughly two additional hours per day of good “on time” smooth movement, and motor scores improved by about 13 to 15 points on a commonly used scale. Brain scans also suggested the transplanted cells survived in the brain. No serious safety concerns were reported, including no major surgical complications or severe side effects.” With this progress and other encouraging trials, I believe we’re going to see an FDA-approved stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s in the next 5 years.
- ‘Steroid Olympics’ company to start selling peptides after Kennedy signals deregulation Enhanced Games, backed by Donald Trump Jr and Peter Thiel, is moving into consumer products, FT. People seem eager for Kennedy to unleash peptides and make money off of them.
- Paired patient-derived organoids reveal transcription factor-driven epigenetic remodeling in breast cancer metastasis, Cell Stem Cell.
- Genetic Therapies for Rare Diseases: Developing Ethical Regulatory Policies Bioethics Forum Essay | The Hastings Center for Bioethics.
- Species-specific chromatin architecture and neurogenesis mediated by a human enhancer, Cell Stem Cell.