Lelixir of life? Science has been wondering for years about what the secret of longevitythat mechanism, or those mechanisms, able to explain why some people seem to age better than others And live much longer of the average. Maintaining good health well into their later stages of life.
The conclusion reached by the studies carried out to date is that, if lifestyle matters a lotthe longevity is also a matter of genes. Genes that seem to give their owners the hope of living longer than the average but that they also represent an important therapeutic possibility.
Rejuvenating the heart: the Italian study
It was recently a study coordinated by the MultiMedica Group And from the University of Bristol to show how what has now been defined as the “longevity protein”Why very frequent in people over one hundred years of lifemay in the future be effectively used through gene therapyto rejuvenate and keep one of the most important organs of the human body healthy: the Heart.
The protein of longevity
But what is meant by longevity protein and how did we come to identify this sort of elixir of life genetic?
«Through years of study of the DNA of centenarians, we have identified in their genetic code the variant of a protein that confers protective capacities. – Explains Hannibal Puca, laboratory manager at IRCCS MultiMedica and professor at the University of Salerno, who in the last twenty years has concentrated his research activity on this theme – By making the comparison with the DNA of normal people we have specifically noticed that a variant of the BPIFB4 protein was observed in the DNA of the centenarians which we called WORK (Longevity Associated Variant)».
The effects of the longevity protein on the heart
Among the beneficial effects of this protein there would be precisely that of maintain heart health.
«We had already studied, with Professor Carmine Vecchione of the University of Salerno and IRCCS Neuromed, one of the leading experts on the subject, the effects of this protein on diabetic or aged vessels – explains Professor Puca again – We had observed that this mutated protein had a beneficial effect on vessel function, observing increased vascular reactivity. In fact, with diabetes as well as with aging, the vessels lose their ability to relax and this carries risks of hypertension and thrombus formation. From these premises we then came to the conclusion that the protein, in its variant, could ensure beneficial effects also to block the progression of atherosclerosis».
Longevity and heart: the study
The new research, performed in vitro and in vivo, e published today on Cardiovascular Researchtherefore represents a further step forward in this sense.
As part of the in vitro study, carried out by the MultiMedica team, coordinated by Professor Annibale Puca, le heart cells of elderly patients with heart problems and subjected to transplantation, coming from the Integrated University Health Authority of Udine, were in fact compared with those of healthy individuals.
Cells from patients with heart problems, especially those that help build new blood vessels, called ‘pericytes‘, were less performing and more aged than those of healthy individuals. However, adding the LAV-BPIFF4 protein to the culture medium of these cellsthe researchers witnessed a real process of cardiac rejuvenation: i that is, pericytes of elderly and sick patients have resumed functioning correctly.
“We observed that the protein helped improve pericyte performance and to reduce its aging component. – Professor Puca explains – When then, in the in vivo phase conducted by Professor Paolo Madeddu in Bristol, mice were treated with this proteina similar result was observed. That is, the sick heart of an elderly mouse resumes functioning like that of a younger mouse if it is treated with the mutated protein. This goes to show that, it’s not just the protein helpful in preventing heart disease but it also manages to to cure and to guarantee a recovery on the aging».
Longevity protein: new therapeutic perspectives
This result obtained on mice would correspond, according to the researchers, to a rewinding the biological heart clock of the 10+ year old man.
From a practical point of view, therefore, if the evidence that emerged in this latest study, funded by the British Heart Foundation and from Ministry of Healthand Italian, were confirmed by clinical trials, in the future a therapy with the LAV-BPIFF4 protein could be adopted for the rejuvenation of the cardiac system.
«We hope to be able to test its effectiveness soon also in clinical trials on patients with heart failure. – underlines Professor Puca again – Clearly the work is still long because to use this protein on patients it is necessary to go through protocols that require the synthesis of this protein in a GMP system (Good Manufacturing Practices) and different preclinical and clinical stages».
The importance of these studies
This type of study, however, opens clinically important insightsfor several reasons.
“These results indicate that there may be other proteins to discover and then that there is the possibility of intervening on the common principles underlying many diseases. – Professor Puca concludes – Since aging is one of the main risk factors for many pathologies, these studies allow us to understand that if we can influence the processes that regulate aging, we can get to prevent many diseases. In summary, we understood that this mutated protein, taken from the genome of centenarians, can be transformed into a biological drug to intervene in various pathological contexts”.
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