In the U.S. alone, about 112,000 people are waiting for organ transplants. More organs would be available if they could be taken from elderly people but those organs are, well, elderly; they’re full of failing or “senescent” cells that cause inflammation, a basic source of aging and illness, and spread the damage to nearby healthy cells. Surgeons typically refuse to transplant an old, weary heart or liver that likely will fail not long after.
Now scientists at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston have found a way to restore youth to old organs.
Senescent cells in old organs release DNA from mitochondria, the cells that convert biochemicals into energy. That free-floating mitochondrial DNA causes the body to reject the transplanted organ.
The Boston group found that allowing “senolytic” drugs to flow over old organs causes senescent cells to die but leaves healthy ones alone. The dead senescent cells, and their released mitochondrial DNA, can then be swept from the organ, restoring an elderly organ to a level of function seen in younger ones.
In tests with mice, elderly donated organs that received the treatment worked as well as organs from younger donors.
TRENDPOST: While this treatment’s early application will be to widen the pool of organ donors, researchers also will be working toward using the technique to restore failing organs in elderly humans, adding another tool to life-extension protocols.
