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Miracle Drug Could Fight Age, HIV
Sify News
November 14, 2008
India
A drug extracted from a plant used in Chinese medicine has helped immune cells fight HIV and raises the possibility of slowing the ageing process in other parts of our bodies, reports the New Scientist.
The method actively involves telomeres - caps of repetitive DNA found at the ends of chromosomes. As cells age, these get shorter; they are also considered responsible for affecting the cell's lifespan, says the article.
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However, these caps can be rebuilt with the help of telomerase, an enzyme, and some researchers have suggested that it might be possible to extend human life by increasing telomerase production - though the process has never been tested, the New Scientist says in an article titled “'Elixir of youth' drug could fight HIV and ageing.”
Now a team of researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles have gone ahead and done just that- they have employed a drug that boosts telomerase to enhance the immune response to viruses, according to the article.
The team, led by Rita Effros, had earlier inserted part of the telomerase gene into so-called killer T-cells - immune cells that fight infections including HIV - and found that the cells exhibited stronger anti-viral activity than normal. However, such gene therapy is not a practical way of treating the millions of people infected with HIV.
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In their latest work, the team, took killer T-cells from HIV-infected people and exposed them to TAT2, says the article.
Developed by Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California, TAT2 is a drug extracted from the root of a plant called Astragalus that is thought to boost telomerase production and is traditionally used in Chinese medicine as a boost for the immune system.
According to the New Scientist, Effros found that TAT2 reduced telomere shortening, increased cells' ability to divide, and enhanced their antiviral activity. Ultimately, she hopes that TAT2 could be used to supplement existing anti-retroviral drugs, by boosting the immune systems of HIV- infected people.
TAT2 could also find applications in other diseases and general ageing - though these are yet to be tested. Killer T-cells fight several other viruses besides HIV, and often enter into a state of anergy - where they stop dividing but won't die - in elderly people, says the New Scientist."One can envision perhaps improving the vaccine response and other anti-viral responses in the elderly by TAT2," Effros is quoted as saying.
As for general tissue regeneration, "if TAT2 can do what the telomerase gene seems to do by keeping cells growing and functioning longer, maybe it could help in tissue regeneration approaches to ageing."
While telomerase is known to be produced at higher than normal rates in cancer cells, "we are fairly confident at this point that TAT2 won't enhance cancer development," the article quotes Effros as saying.
However, she warns, "Uncontrolled use of any herbal drug is not wise and I would not advocate it."
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