HARVARD STEM CELL INSTITUTE, MASSACHUSETTS, USA. Researchers were able to discover a type of protein in the blood of both mice and humans that could turn out to be the very first effective treatment for heart failure caused by old age which could be a very significant discovery to a lot of people around the world.
Just like in humans, the hearts of mice develop thickened heart walls as they age. When the protein called GDF-11 was injected into the older mice, their hearts reduced in size and thickness which could be compared to the hearts of younger mice. This discovery could significantly rewrite our understanding and how we look at the human aging process in the next few years to come.
Richard T. Lee, a Harvard Medical School professor and one of the research authors, said that the most common form of heart failure that older people suffer from is actually a form that’s not caused by heart attacks but is very much related to the heart aging. He also stated that with the use of the protein GDF-11, they will be able to reverse the heart aging in a very short period of time.
Lee and his entire team of researchers are very excited about the potential medical breakthrough that this project could actually make in a few more years. Right now, their team is focused on taking the GDF-11 into clinical trials in about five years to see what other tissue types the protein might affect.
| Invention | GDF-11 |
|---|---|
| Organization | Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Massachusetts, USA |
| Researcher | Professor Richard T. Lee and Amy Wagers |
| Field(s) | cell biology, Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University, health, heart, protein, Regenerative Medicine |
| Further Information | Medpage Today |
Image by G. Baden/Corbis
