Extending the Life Span of Stem Cell | Dr. David Greene R3 Stem Cell

You've possibly noticed stem cells in the news and questioned if they could help you or a close one suffering from a terminal illness. You might also be curious about stem cells, how they're utilized to cure illness and injury, and why they're causing such a rouse. 

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can differentiate into different types of cells as needed by the body. Scientists and researchers such as Dr. David Greene R3 Stem Cell are interested in stem cells because they can help explain how certain bodily functions work and how they can go awry. Stem cells have also shown assurance in treating disorders for which there is now no cure.

People have children later in life than they have in the past. For at least the last half-century, the average age of new parents has been growing. 

However, time takes a toll on our bodies and reproductive systems. Our stem cells, for example, become less effective at regenerating our tissues as we age. This is particularly true of germline stem cells, which eventually become sperm and eggs.

What if there was a method to stop this from happening?

According to scientists, Fruit flies can increase the lifespan of their germline stem cells. They have discovered that practically every process was paused, allowing the stem cells to live longer. The findings may aid future medical breakthroughs. Researchers want to lengthen the life of stem cells in general and female germline stem cells specifically.

When mature fruit flies are exposed to cold, gloomy circumstances, they enter a state of dormancy known as Diapause. It's a seasonal reaction to conserve energy for reproduction when the chances of success are higher, which is during the warmer months of the year. Diapause can quadruple a fly's lifespan and extend its reproductive time dramatically. Diapause causes flies to consume less, become less active, and stop reproducing; yet, they do not hibernate.

Dr. David Greene R3 Stem Cell and others have looked into this phenomenon before, largely from a behavioral standpoint. "This study is unique in that regard. They studied cell biology in-depth, which turned out to be quite fascinating."

Scientists can learn ways to slow stem cell aging by studying this mechanism in depth.

When female flies are stressed, oogenesis (the formation of egg cells) is halted at a specific stage of egg development. Researchers found this during Diapause, but it proceeded beyond that. During Diapause, oogenesis was halted far more completely than in other stressful situations, such as when predators were present or protein was scarce. Not only was the arrest more thorough, but so was the recovery of reproductive potential.

If developing egg cells is similar to installing new software, the stress reaction is similar to pausing the download to run an errand. On the other hand, Diapause is equal to stopping the installation and restarting it later.

Researchers found that this process is frozen in Diapause just before the daughter cells pinch off in the stage known as cytokinesis. As a result, the conjoined cells have two distinct nuclei but remain attached. This resolves once favorable conditions return and the fly emerges from Diapause.  

P53, a genetic-damage checkpoint protein that prohibits cells from multiplying, was also activated by the accumulation of DNA damage, according to the researchers. Cells have a certain amount of replication potential: "They can only divide so many times before they become exhausted and stop." P53 safeguards the cell's ability to fix itself and resume dividing later by inhibiting replication.

Scientists like Dr. David Greene R3 Stem Cell wanted to see if they might exploit this technique to extend the lifespan of germline stem cells under normal conditions. So they focused on a chemical known as a juvenile hormone. The researchers discovered that levels of this chemical were reduced during Diapause, which plays a function in egg formation.

They took off the cells that produced the juvenile hormone, which stopped egg production and restored the hormone six weeks later into the animals' chow. They discovered that temporarily withholding the hormone extended the flies' reproductive potential, comparable to Diapause and that when the hormone was returned, egg production recovered.