Health
Aging ‘hotspot’ found in brain, researchers say: ‘Major changes’
The brain plays a big part in the aging process, and scientists think they’ve pinpointed the specific cells that control it.
In a study of mice, researchers at the Allen Institute identified certain cells that showed “major changes” with age, particularly in one specific “hotspot,” according to a press release.
Mice were chosen because their brains share “many similarities” to human brains.
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“Our brain consists of thousands of types of cells, which carry out different functions,” Hongkui Zeng, study co-author and director of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, told Fox News Digital. “Our study shows that different cell types are differentially susceptible to the aging process.”
The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was published in the journal Nature.
Scientists from the Allen Institute believe they have pinpointed the specific brain cells that control aging. (iStock)
The researchers used RNA sequencing and brain-mapping tools to analyze more than 1.2 million brain cells from young mice (2 months old) and older mice (18 months old).
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The 18-month-old mice are roughly equivalent to a “late middle-aged human,” the researchers indicated.
The researchers grouped the cells into 847 different types and also identified nearly 2,500 genes that changed with aging, according to Zeng.
Mice (not pictured) were chosen because their brains share “many similarities” to human brains, the researchers said. (iStock)
The cells that were linked to aging showed an increase in inflammation and a decrease in “neuronal function.”
“Changes in these genes point to deteriorated neuronal structure and function in many neuronal and glial cell types, as well as increased immune response and inflammation in the brain’s immune and vascular (blood vessel) cell types,” Zeng detailed.
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The cells that experienced the biggest changes were the ones in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that is linked to food intake, energy balance and metabolism, the researchers noted.
This suggests that this area is a “hotspot for aging,” Zeng noted, and that there could be a connection between diet, lifestyle factors, brain aging and risk of age-related cognitive disorders.
“Aging is the most important risk factor for many brain diseases.”
“The findings from the study reinforce the notion that maintaining a healthy lifestyle, promoting a healthy metabolic state, and reducing inflammation in the body and brain could slow down or delay the aging process and reduce the risks of aging-associated brain diseases,” he said.
The hope is that this discovery could lead to new age-related therapies to improve the function of these cells and help prevent neurodegenerative diseases, according to the researchers.
Researchers from the study discuss findings at the Allen Institute. (Allen Institute)
“Aging is the most important risk factor for many brain diseases,” Zeng noted.
“Our study provides a highly detailed genetic map for which brain cell types may be most affected by aging and suggests new gene and cell targets for developing new treatments for aging-related brain diseases.”
The study did have some limitations, the authors acknowledged.
“The main limitation of our study is that the findings are correlational,” Zeng said.
Inflammation plays a role in chronic age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s, a neurologist noted. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
“We don’t know yet if the gene expression changes observed in specific cell types are causal to brain aging. Our study lays the groundwork by providing a detailed genetic map and cell targets.”
Zeng called for future studies to investigate the cells’ roles in aging and determine whether the reversal of the changes could delay the aging process.
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Dr. Earnest Lee Murray, a board-certified neurologist at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee, commented that the new research adds to existing evidence supporting the role of diet in human brain health.
The detailed “brain roadmap” will be very beneficial for future research into aging and possible therapeutics, according to Murray, who was not involved in the study.
The detailed “brain roadmap” discovered in the study will be very beneficial for future research into aging and possible therapeutics, experts agree. (iStock)
It’s been known for some time that inflammation plays a role in chronic age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s, the neurologist noted.
“More and more evidence is pointing to the fact many chronic diseases can be prevented, and it often comes down to diet and exercise,” he told Fox News Digital.
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“Altering diet to exclude processed foods and initiating some habits such as intermittent fasting have been shown to reduce this cellular inflammation that appears to be leading to so many diseases.”
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A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.
The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.
The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.
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After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.
The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.
The therapy was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone after a five-year follow-up. (iStock)
The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”
Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.
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According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile.
The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.
The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.
Patients with late-stage melanoma have a “significant risk” of cancer recurrence, according to an expert. (iStock)
In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”
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“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.
Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”
Researchers confirmed that the combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. (iStock)
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.
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The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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