Our Aging Immune System...New Clues.

imhotep

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  • Mar 29, 2017
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    A WEHI study ( Walter and Eliza Hall Institute) could help solve a long-standing mystery into why a key immune organ in our bodies shrinks and loses its function as we get older. The thymus is an organ essential for good health due to its ability to produce special immune cells that are responsible for fighting infections and cancer.

    In a world-first, researchers have uncovered new cells that drive this aging process in the thymus—significant findings that could unlock a way to restore function in the thymus and prevent our immunity from waning as we age.

    T cells, also known as T lymphocytes, are a type of white blood cell that plays a crucial role in our immune system. T cells are essential for identifying and responding to pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, and for eliminating infected or cancerous cells.

    The thymus is a small, but mighty, organ that sits behind the breastbone. It is the only organ in the body that can make T cells.

    But a curious feature of the thymus is that it is the first organ in our bodies to shrink as we get older. As this happens, the T cell growth areas in the thymus are replaced with fatty tissue, diminishing T cell production and contributing to a weakened immune system.

    While the thymus is capable of regenerating from damage, to date researchers have been unable to figure out how to unlock this ability and boost immunity in humans as we age.

    WEHI Laboratory Head Professor Daniel Gray said the new findings, could help solve this mystery that has stumped researchers for decades.

    "The number of new T cells produced in the body significantly declines after puberty, irrespective of how fit you are. By age 65, the thymus has virtually retired," Prof Gray said.
    This weakening of the thymus makes it harder for the body to deal with new infections, cancers and regulate immunity as we age. This is also why adults who have depleted immune systems, for example due to cancer treatment or stem cell transplants, take much longer than children to recover.
    These adults need years to recover their T cells—or sometimes never do—putting them at higher risk of contracting potentially life-threatening infections for the rest of their lives.

    "Exploring ways to restore thymic function is critical to finding new therapies that can improve outcomes for these vulnerable patients and find a way to ensure a healthy level of T cells are produced throughout our lives."

    The new study, an international collaboration with groups at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center (Seattle) and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre (NYC), provides crucial new insights that could help achieve this goal.

    "Our discovery provides a new angle for thymic regeneration and immune restoration, could unravel a way to boost immune function in vulnerable patients in the future," Prof Gray said.

    Using advanced imaging techniques at WEHI's Centre for Dynamic Imaging and animal models, the research team discovered two new cell types that cause the thymus to lose its function.

    These cells, which appeared only in the defective thymus of older mice and humans, were found to form clusters around T cell growth areas, impairing the organ's ability to make these important immune cells. The researchers discovered these clusters also formed 'scars' in the thymus which prevented the organ from restoring itself after damage.
    Dr. Kelin Zhao, who led the imaging efforts, said the findings showed for the first time how this scarring process acts as a barrier to thymic regeneration and function.

     

    imhotep

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  • Mar 29, 2017
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    It will take time but immortality is achievable and it will make most religions obsolete.
    Religions should have been obsoleted more than a century ago. Sadly, it ididn't and some of them still create havoc in the world.

    Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence; it will fade away as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines.
    -Bertrand Russell
     

    kj1

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  • Nov 10, 2015
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    😲


    I don't think so 😕
    ------ Post added on Aug 16, 2024 at 6:18 AM
    Maybe i will be lucky to see it.i don't know i just wish i will live that long.😄

    Religions should have been obsoleted more than a century ago. Sadly, it ididn't and some of them still create havoc in the world.

    Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence; it will fade away as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines.
    -Bertrand Russell
    yeah they are evolving.but with time people will come up with better frameworks to live life.
    ------ Post added on Aug 16, 2024 at 6:23 AM
     

    ewijesekara

    Well-known member
  • Mar 10, 2017
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    Back Bay-Beacon Hill, Boston
    Religions should have been obsoleted more than a century ago. Sadly, it ididn't and some of them still create havoc in the world.

    Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence; it will fade away as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines.
    -Bertrand Russell
    To reiterate something Richard Dawkins would say " all religions survive in our cultural meme pool because they are very strong memes, that mutate rapidly and appeal to human minds and multitude of human conditions"

    Nice post but I don't think there is "silver bullet" for these complex biological issues. At one time it was telomeres, then resveratrol, then Metformin...etc. it would probably be a cocktail of chemical compounds that would be able to reverse aging.
     

    Stimulus mind

    Well-known member
  • Feb 27, 2021
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    Los Alamos
    TFS brother. :) (y)

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