Breakthrough in Anti-Aging Treatment Research - Regenerative Gene Transplant Restores Stem Cell Vitality
The research team used blue dye to track the intestinal health of fruit flies. The intestines of aging, damaged fruit flies would leak blue dye. In the image, the left side shows the HRJD gene-modified fruit flies, and the right side shows the same-aged unmodified fruit flies. Image source: University of Tokyo.
According to the latest report on the University of Tokyo's official website, a team from the university's Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences has discovered that transferring genes from simple organisms capable of regenerating their bodies into ordinary fruit flies can inhibit age-related intestinal issues in the flies. This suggests that genes from animals with high regenerative abilities may restore stem cell function and extend the lifespan of another species.
Associate Professor Hiroki Nagai from the University of Tokyo stated that in animals with whole-body regenerative abilities, such as flatworms and jellyfish, certain genes might help achieve regeneration while maintaining long-term stem cell function. Conversely, mammals and insects with limited regenerative abilities might have lost these genes through evolution. In the latest study, they transferred a group of genes unique to highly regenerative animals—Highly Regenerative Species-Specific JmjC Domain (HRJD) encoding genes—into fruit flies to test their effects.
The "upgraded" fruit flies could not regenerate tissues after injury. However, under specific conditions, the genes exhibited new characteristics: HRJD promoted the division of intestinal stem cells while inhibiting the erroneous differentiation and problematic intestinal cells in elderly fruit flies. This contrasts sharply with methods such as antibiotics. Antibiotics might inhibit erroneous differentiation of intestinal cells but also suppress the division of intestinal stem cells. This groundbreaking discovery opens the door to developing new anti-aging strategies.
Hiroki Nagai pointed out that the detailed mechanisms of HRJD molecules are not yet fully understood, and further research is needed to determine whether they act alone or in combination with other components. However, the modified fruit flies serve as valuable resources for revealing unprecedented stem cell regeneration mechanisms. Human intestinal stem cell activity decreases with age, and this research offers a promising pathway for stem cell therapies.