Key Points:
- The annual Longevity Summit Dublin took place in June, initiated by the renowned longevity researcher Aubrey de Grey.
- Two awards were presented at the summit: a Rising Star Award to Alexander Fedintsev and a Lifetime Achievement Award to veteran aging researcher Maria Blasco.
- Dr. Blasco and Dr. Fedintsev both gave presentations of their work with Fedintsev focusing on age-related inflammation (inflammaging) and Blasco on protective ends of chromosomes (telomeres).
In June 2024, top-notch aging researchers presented their work at the Longevity Summit Dublin. Two awards were given at the seminar: a Rising Star Award presented to upcoming longevity scientist, Alexander Fedintsev, and a Lifetime Achievement Award given to aging research veteran Maria Blasco.
The Longevity Summit Dublin was initiated by longevity research heavyweight Aubrey de Grey and included 69 aging research presentations. Due to the high volume of impactful presentations given at the seminar, highlights from only the summit’s two award recipients will be given.
Alexander Fedintsev Explores Ways to Lower Systemic Inflammation to Thwart Aging
After receiving the Rising Star Award, Alexander Fedintsev from the Radical Life Extension Group proposed a new hallmark of aging: clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP). CHIP is a condition where a single blood stem cell (known as a hematopoietic stem cell) acquires genetic mutations that give it a growth advantage. This growth advantage allows it to expand its ability to proliferate within bone marrow. Such a circumstance results in a significant proportion of blood cells originating from this single mutated stem cell rather than a diverse population of stem cells.
What’s more, the mutations that allow for expanded proliferation impair the stem cells’ ability to produce healthy mutation-free blood cells. In this way, these more rapidly reproducing mutated cells give rise to mutated immune cells, such as white blood cells, that are less healthy and functional. These less functional immune cells eventually outnumber healthy immune cells, which has a detrimental effect on the immune system. This may trigger age-related systemic inflammation.
CHIP drastically increases the risk for cardiovascular disease by about 80%, cancer risk by 10-fold, and lung cancer by about 60%, according to Fedintsev. Moreover, he said that CHIP might be the leading cause of death in extremely old people.
Currently, we do not have sufficient tools that combat CHIP. However, the prolonged inhibition of an inflammatory protein called IL-6, which may be a byproduct of CHIP, has been shown to alleviate systemic inflammation in monkeys with arthritis. Fedintsev also noted how arthritis patients receive IL-6 inhibition therapy to lower inflammation.
Maria Blasco Talks About the Potential of Telomere Extension for Longevity
Following a short ceremony for her Lifetime Achievement Award, Dr. Maria Blasco gave a presentation on telomeres, a research topic she has been tackling for the past three decades or so.
Since the inception of modern aging research, she explained, telomeres have captivated those who study aging. Researchers have long hoped to uncover how progressive telomere shortening with age is tied to aging. Along those lines, age-related telomere shortening (telomere attrition) was included in the original list of hallmarks of aging — types of biochemical changes that occur in all organisms that experience aging.
Researchers have found that telomeres’ role in health and longevity is complex and multifaceted. For example, many types of cancer cells have an increased abundance of an enzyme that lengthens telomeres called telomerase. This ensures their continued proliferation that results in the growth of tumors.
Dr. Blasco also presented research suggesting another link between telomere length and cancer. Such research suggests that shorter telomeres cause chromosomal instability, which increases the risk of cancerous mutations.
Aside from the potential complications associated with extending telomeres and cancer, Dr. Blasco described some of the important findings linking telomeres with aging. For instance, a telomerase deficiency in mice has been shown to cause accelerated aging. Furthermore, genetically engineered mice with extra-long telomeres live longer and get less cancer. These mice with longer telomeres also showed substantial health improvements like better metabolism, reduced cognitive decline, and less osteoporosis.
Dr. Blasco also relayed how telomere shortening plays key roles in many diseases, including pulmonary fibrosis, which is characterized by lung scarring. In a mouse model, research has found that telomerase gene therapy reverses pulmonary fibrosis, lowers inflammation, and reduces the burden of dysfunctional cells that accumulate with age — senescent cells. Another disease for which short telomeres are a factor is kidney fibrosis, characterized by kidney scarring. Accordingly, work by Blasco’s group revealed that shortened telomeres sensitized the kidneys to fibrosis after vitamin (folic acid) exposure.
For humans, Dr. Blasco presented a study tying shorter telomeres to COVID severity. Another study of COVID survivors detected more lung fibrosis in those with shorter telomeres.
The overarching message behind Dr. Blasco’s talk was that telomeres may not exactly hold the key to life extension. At the same time, they certainly play an important role in aging and age-related diseases, which makes their role in aging needing further investigation.
The Longevity Summit Dublin is planned to take place again in June 2025. With the developments relayed in the 2024 seminar, it will be intriguing to find what the future summits hold for the latest aging research. Perhaps a longevity science breakthrough is on the horizon.
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