How to make an old immune system young again
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Blood stem cells (example pictured; artificially coloured) generate red blood cells and immune cells. Credit: Science Photo Library
Old mice developed more youthful immune systems after scientists reduced aberrant stem cells in the aged animals1. The technique strengthened the old rodents’ responses to viral infection and lowered signs of inflammation.
The approach, published on 27 March in Nature, treats older mice with antibodies to diminish a population of stem cells that give rise to a variety of other cell types, including those that contribute to inflammation. Excess inflammation can wreak havoc in the body, and these pro-inflammatory stem cells become dominant as mice and humans age.
It will be years before the approach can be tested in people, but many aspects of the stem-cell biology that underlies immune-cell production are similar between mice and humans. “It’s a really important first step,” says Robert Signer, a stem-cell biologist at the University of California, San Diego, who was not involved in the research. “I’m excited to see where they take this work next.”
