Scientists have found a way of preserving youth

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Ученые нашли  способ сохранения молодости

Scientists from the Spanish cancer research center have managed to create mice in which the chromosomes are very long telomeres. Animals thus remained young. In their work, scientists have resorted to genetic manipulation, and used epigenetic mechanisms. A study published in the journal Nature Communications Thursday, 2 June.

Telomeres are terminal chromosomal regions and perform a protective function. Every time the synthesized copy of DNA in the preparation of cells to divide, telomeres grow shorter. Since the telomeres are not genes, the loss of their fragments will not be harm to cells. With age, telomere length becomes smaller, and when it reaches a critical value, the cell dies or stops dividing. That is why scientists believe that the process of shortening of telomeres is associated with aging.

Early studies showed that transformation of normal cells into stem cells by epigenetic reprogramming leads to telomere lengthening. It was later shown that the same phenomenon occurs spontaneously in the culture of embryonic stem cells at the ends of chromosomes are extended twice. However, scientists decided to test what would happen if one of these cells will increase the mouse.

The results showed that DNA of cells of mice with gipergennye telomeres accumulates less damage and more efficiently repaired by special enzymes. Moreover, the modified animals were lower likelihood of developing cancerous tumors than in normal animals. Overall, mice with long telomeres remained young at the molecular level.

The next step, according to scientists, is the creation of a new type mice, the length of the telomeres which will be twice as long. Thus, the experts intend to explore whether these animals live longer compared to other rodents.

Under epigenetic mechanisms understand the way to regulate the activity of genes through changes in DNA sequence, and using different compounds that interact with the genes or their associated proteins.

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