Yasmina Kattou / Photo credits: TREMELET / IMAGE POINT FR / BSIP VIA AFP
An elixir of youth? French researchers may have identified the cure for aging. A new Inserm study reveals the mechanisms of the aging process of our cells. A major discovery that could help fight age-related diseases. Europe 1 explains.
Have we found the cure for aging? In any case, in a new study published in the journal Nature Metabolism, French scientists from Inserm have succeeded in identifying the mechanisms of the aging process in our cells. A discovery that opens up possibilities for future treatments for age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s or osteoarthritis.
An enzyme identified as responsible for aging
In our body, there are cells that regenerate, others that die, and there are cells that age. These aging cells have an important role: they prevent the proliferation of cells damaged by tumors, for example. But with age, aging cells increase in the body and their function is altered, which increases inflammation and aging.
The cause of this phenomenon is glycerol kinase, an enzyme present in cells. Mario Pende, researcher at Inserm and head of the study, therefore decided to block the functioning of this enzyme. “In aging cells, there is an activation of certain enzymes and if we prevent this activation of enzymes, we can maintain the cell in a state that prevents aging and age-related diseases,” says -he. This discovery could make it possible to create new therapies for all kinds of diseases linked to aging such as Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular diseases and even cancers.