RATTAN at kemi.aau.dk wrote:
: Research on ageing is linked with a search for methods to prevent/delay/
: cure ageing and age-related diseases/symptoms/characterisitcs.The market
: for anti-ageing products is unsaturable. Perhaps that is why many of
: the senior ageing researchers are now either opening up their own
: companies or sitting on consultancy boards of other companies.
: Apparently, there is a lot of money to be made!!!!!
: Recently, two new discoveries have been published claiming certain
: anti-ageing effects on human cells in culture. This week in the journal
: EXPERIMENTAL CELL RESEARCH, VOL 212, PP 165, 1994; ROBIN HOLLIDAY
: (of Holliday junction fame) has published senescence-retarding effects
: of a dipeptide beta-alanyl-L-histidine, called carnosine, on human
: fibroblasts. Maintenance of young morphology along with some other
: cellular and biochemcial characterisitcs is the main effect seen. There is
: a slight increase in cell proliferation too. Even senescence characteristics
: can be reversed. Of course, at this stage nothing is known about the
: mode of action of such a dipeptide in bringing about so big changes
: in cellular physiology, ageing and lifespan.
: That was the first report. The other one is coming out or may be it is
: already out, I have not seen it yet, in the latest issue of BBRC.
: This is about the famous Factor-X as anti-ageing miracle compound.
: I cant tell the name yet until I see the published journal. Already
: it has taken 8 years of companies-induced blockage on publication. I know
: all this because I am the author of this second paper. So, in a day or
: two I will tell you the detail of this other compound discovered by
: ..
: Now get ready with all those mechanistic questions.
: Suresh Rattan
: Laboratory of Cellular Ageing
: Department of Chemistry
: Aarhus University
: DK-8000 Aarhus - c
: Denmark e-mail: Rattan at kemi.aau.dk
The message from Suresh Rattan is exciting. If people are interested in
the compound carnosine, the dipepetide that he mentions, Alan Hipkiss at
King's College, London, England has been studying the "anti-ageing"
properties of this compound for some time. It should be said that in
this context "anti-ageing" means retarding the loss of physiological
function. This may or may not affect death (from other causes), and may
or may not be relevant to the biological process of "ageing".
--
Sydney SHALL,
Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology,
Biology Building, University of Sussex,
Brighton, East Sussex BN1 9QG,
