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A report in the April issue of Nature Medicine shows that features of premature aging can be reversed in cell culture.
Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a childhood condition with features that strikingly resemble the aging process. Mutations in a protein of the cell nucleus known as lamin A cause HGPS. Indeed, the nuclei of cells from people with the disease are abnormal; they have wrinkles, herniations and show functional alterations. Now, Paola Scaffidi and Tom Misteli show that helping the protein-synthesis machinery of the cell to skip the mutation leads to a reversal of those abnormalities. By showing that defects in the nuclei of cells from people with HGPS are reversible, these researchers give rise to the possibility of developing therapies effective not only at the level of cells, but on the whole organism. Author contact: Tom Misteli (National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA)
Tel: + 1 301 402 3959
E-mail: mistelit@mail.nih.gov Also available online. (C) Nature Medicine press release.
Message posted by: Trevor M. D'Souza
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