How blood can be rejuvenated

Would this obviate the need to find young blood donors?

Can we reverse the ageing process by putting young blood into older people?

How blood can be rejuvenated

Our blood stem cells generate around a thousand billion new blood cells every day. But the blood stem cells’ capacity to produce blood changes as we age. This leads to older people being more susceptible to anaemia, lowered immunity and a greater risk of developing certain kinds of blood cancer. Now for the first time, a research team at Lund University in Sweden has succeeded in rejuvenating blood stem cells with established reduced function in aging mice. The study is published in Nature Communications.
When we are young, our blood stem cells produce an even and well-balanced number of red and white blood cells according to need. As we age, however, the capacity of the blood stem cells to produce the number of blood cells we need declines.
“This type of age-related change can have major consequences as it can lead to an imbalance in stem cell production. For example, a reduced production of immune cells or excessive production of other types of cells can be a precursor to leukaemia”, explains David Bryder, who headed the study at Lund University.
Tracking old stem cells

A fundamental question was whether blood stem cells age differently within a single individual or whether all blood stem cells are equally affected by advancing age. In an initial stage, it was therefore important to genetically mark old blood stem cells, to enable the identification and tracking of those most affected by age. In the next step, these traceable cells were reprogrammed to another type of stem cell – known as iPS cells, which can generate all cells in an individual and not only blood cells. When the cells are reprogrammed, their identity is ‟re-set”; when these reprogrammed iPS cells formed new blood stem cells, the researchers observed that the re-set had entailed a rejuvenation of the cells.
“We found that there was no difference in blood-generating capacity when we compared the reprogrammed blood stem cells with healthy blood stem cells from a young mouse. This is, as far as we know, the first time someone has directly succeeded in proving that it is possible to recreate the function of young stem cells from a functionally old cellˮ, says Martin Wahlestedt, the first author of the study.
Not caused by mutations

The research team’s studies have also thereby shown that many age-related changes in the blood system cannot be explained by mutations in the cells’ DNA. If the changes depended on permanent damage at the DNA level, the damage would still be present after the re-set. Instead, epigenetic changes appear to underlie the decline in function associated with advancing age.
“Our findings justify further research to improve the function of human blood stem cells and thereby address diseases such as anaemia, leukaemia and other blood disorders”, concludes David Bryder.
The research was funded by: the Swedish Cancer Society, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Pediatric Leukemia Foundation, Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundation, ERC consolidator grant
http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14533
Full bibliographic informationClonal reversal of ageing-associated stem cell lineage bias via a pluripotent intermediate

Martin Wahlestedt, Eva Erlandsson, Trine Kristiansen, Rong Lu, Cord Brakebusch, Irving L. Weissman, Joan Yuan, Javier Martin-Gonzalez & David Bryder

Nature Communications 8, Article number: 14533 (2017)
doi:10.1038/ncomms14533

AgeingHaematopoiesisHaematopoietic stem cells

Researchers Rejuvenate Old Mouse Brains and Bodies Using Human Plasma

Not to be tried without a lot of research which won't occur.
http://www.biosciencetechnology.com/news/2016/11/researchers-rejuvenate-old-mouse-brains-and-bodies-using-human-plasma?

Findings presented at the Society for Neuroscience 2016 Annual Meeting in San Diego last week suggest that plasma transfusions from young people may actually hold the key to revitalizing cognition and physical activity in older mice – a treatment that could one day be developed for use in people.
While earlier studies have shown that plasma, the liquid part of blood, from young mice can be injected and help rejuvenate the brains and other organs of older mice, this recent study is the first to investigate if human blood could provide the same benefits.
For the study, 12-month-old mice, which is the equivalent of about a 50 year old human, were injected with plasma from 18-year-old humans, twice a week for three weeks.
Scientists then administered a variety of tests and compared the injected mice’s performance with that of young, 3-month-old mice and a control group of older mice who did not receive plasma injections.
Interestingly, the treated mice showed reversals in aging, such as moving slowly and decreased memory skills.  The treated mice began to run around in open spaces, similar to their younger controls.
Another test was the Barnes maze, which older mice tend to perform poorly at navigating because of weaker memories.  However, after receiving the young blood injections, older mice navigated the maze as well as young mice, finding the exit with ease.
“Young human plasma improves cognition,” Sakura Minami, a researcher at Alkahest, the biotech company spearheading the work, told New Scientist. “There memory was preserved.”
Karoly Nikolich, CEO of Alkahest told CBS  that the key to the young plasma is special proteins that, while may help rejuvenate tissues, eventually are replaced as people age with inflammatory ones that cause damage.
Another key finding was actual changes to the brains of treated mice, who saw a doubling of newly formed neurons that were created in regions of the brain important for memory and learning.
Alkahest has now begun a small controlled clinical study of young plasma in humans in a cohort of 18 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.  Nikolich told CBS that the results of that study will come at the end of next year.
If the trial proves successful, the researchers plan to move on to larger studies with higher doses.
The company hopes that eventually they will be able to manufacture the rejuvenating proteins as a potential treatment to reduce inflammation in the brain and potentially help treat Alzheimer’s.
It’s important to note that the study findings have not been published in a journal and have yet to be peer-reviewed.