A photo from open sources
The hypothalamus, the “endocrine center” of the brain, is involved during aging, blocking its work slows down the onset old age, which biologists in mice have successfully demonstrated.
“We have been trying for a long time to understand whether the tissues in our body are decrepit on their own, or there is a certain “center of aging” that governs by this process. It became clear to us that the hypothalamus controls, by at least part of these processes. We were able, at least in case with mice, significantly slow down aging and prolong it life, “said Dongsheng Cai of Medical Albert Einstein College in New York (USA).
Tsai and his colleagues discovered an “aging center” in the mouse brain, watching age-related changes in the brain of elderly rodents. Scientists were interested in one of the typical symptoms of old age – increased sensitivity to inflammation. Biologists have been watching foci of inflammation, measuring the level of a key signal protein – the so-called factor NF-kB, “including” a cellular response to inflammation.
The authors of the article noted that the highest concentration of this protein observed in the hypothalamus – the part of the brain that controls the work hormonal system. Researchers tracked how the behavior of hypothalamic neurons and surrounding cells with adding molecules of these proteins. It turned out that NF-kB was blocking synthesis of the hormone gonadoliberin, stimulating the development of genital cells in the ovaries and testes in adults.
This fact made Tsai and his colleagues suggest that the decline gonadoliberin activity was a signal that caused aging of all body tissues. Scientists tested this hypothesis by neutralizing some NF-kB molecules in the brain of elderly rodents. According to them, similar therapy stopped the degradation of nerve cells and prolonged their life wards by 20% compared with conventional mice. Further studying the hypothalamus will help find a similar extension method life and for people, conclude the authors of an article published in Nature magazine.
A life
