The researchers injected 75-week-old mice with an anti-IL-11 antibody, which neutralized the harmful effects of IL-11.
Researchers from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Medical Sciences and Imperial College London have inhibited a protein called IL-11 that can help extend the healthy lives of mice by almost 25%.
It offers promising insights and could have a similar impact on humans.
The researchers collaborated with the Duke NUS Medical School in Singapore. The researchers tested the effects of IL-11 by creating genetically modified mice in which the gene responsible for the production of IL-11 (interleukin 11) was deleted.
During their research, the researchers also treated 75-week-old mice with an injection containing an anti-IL-11 antibody—a drug that reverses the harmful effects of IL-11.
Still, IL-11’s clear path to human testing sets it apart from a host of other proteins and rejuvenation interventions, many of which have shown promise in animal models but stalled en route to clinical trials.
“There is a real opportunity to translate this into clinical therapies,” says Cathy Slack, who studies the biology of aging at the University of Warwick in the UK.
However, scientists have known for a long time that chronic inflammation can lead to diseases that are associated with aging.
This means that as and when the body ages, it stores damaged proteins and other molecules. Researchers share that this leads to a different immune system being affected, which often catches the infection.
Scientists have been studying the role of IL-11 for some time, but weren’t sure how the protein and aging were connected until molecular biologist Anissa Widjaja discovered it by accident.
