Ajou University Medical Center Discovers New Concept ‘Intermediate Aging Cells’ for the First Time in the World

With Appropriate Stimulation, Cells can Regain Functions Similar to ‘Young Cells’
New Anti-Aging Treatment Paradigm Suggested, Published in International Academic Journal

A domestic research team has discovered ‘intermediate aging cells’ that cause human aging. This is something that has not been previously identified, and the team has proposed an anti-aging strategy through this discovery.

The research team led by Professor Park Tae-jun (Research Professors Lee Young-kyung and Park Soon-sang) from the Department of Biochemistry at Ajou University Hospital and Professor Kim Jang-hee (Research Professor Kim Young-hwa) from the Department of Pathology announced on the 27th that they have discovered the existence of a new concept of ‘intermediate aging cells’ in elderly organ tissues for the first time in the world.

According to the research team, intermediate aging cells refer to cells in the intermediate stage between young cells and fully aged cells in the various stages of cellular aging.

The research team has first established that the accumulation of these intermediate aging cells affects the functional impairment of elderly organs. They also confirmed that these intermediate aging cells have a greater impact on chronic inflammation and the decline in epithelial cell function within elderly tissues than fully aged cells.

Notably, the research team has shown using cells and aged mice that if appropriate stimulation is given to intermediate aging cells, they can recover functions similar to young cells. According to the research team, this suggests the possibility that even the elderly can recover function if appropriate stimulation is given to the cells, which is significant.

So far, anti-aging treatment strategies have attempted to artificially eliminate fully aged cells. However, there has been much difficulty in actual commercialization as the process of removing aging cells often triggers inflammation, and the drugs themselves often have toxicity to young cells.

On the other hand, intermediate aging cells have been shown to be able to recover cell function when continuously exposed to Juvenile-associated secretory phenotypes (JASPs), as they retain responsiveness to external growth factors.

Based on this, the research team expects that even without artificially removing aging cells with drug treatment, it will be possible to restore cell function. In addition, the research team explained that it is relatively safe because substances derived from healthy cells are at work, compared to drugs that remove aging cells.

Professor Park Tae-jun said, “It is significant that we have been able to shed light on the cause of functional decline in elderly organs, which had not been previously identified in the field of human aging, and the potential for its treatment.”

Professor Kim Jang-hee added, “We have opened a new anti-aging treatment paradigm of ‘restoring the function of intermediate aging cells’ in anti-aging treatment strategies. We hope that this will bring about another advancement in the field of anti-aging.”

This research achievement was carried out with the support of the Korea Research Foundation’s Bio-Medical Technology Development Project, Aging Control Fundamental Technology Development, and the Ministry of Education’s Key Research Institute Project.

The research results were published in the online edition of Nature Communications, an international academic journal published by Nature, under the title ‘Anti-aging Strategy through the Control of Intermediate Aging Cells’ in November.