Hypothalamic neural stem cells taken from newborn mice delay aging in adult mice

Many researchers believe that aging is regulated in a distinct manner, and is somehow signalled throughout the body as we age - with a rate varying species to species. While this is still hotly debated and there is some evidence on both sides of the argument, the brain has emerged as a possible regulator of systemic (whole body) aging. One of the organs now being studied is the hypothalamus.

A role for stem cells in the hypothalamus

Researchers noticed that numbers of neural stem cells in the hypothalamus decline sharply in mice at around 10 months of age - a few months prior to the onset of clear aging symptoms. At 2 years of age most mice no longer have any of these cells left. To study this phenomenon further, and whether it was somehow influencing the rate of decline, the research team targeted these cells in healthy mice with viruses to selectively destroy them. The result was a somewhat quickened aging process; accelerating memory problems, muscle weakening and coordination decline. These mice also died sooner.

"Our research shows that the number of hypothalamic neural stem cells naturally declines over the life of the animal, and this decline accelerates aging. But we also found that the effects of this loss are not irreversible. By replenishing these stem cells or the molecules they produce, it's possible to slow and even reverse various aspects of aging throughout the body"