Key Points: A type of immune cell called a natural killer cell reduces the occurrence of senescence — cell growth arrest — in human blood and fat tissue. Elevating dopamine levels enhances the effect of natural killer cells in multiple mouse organs. Natural killer cell treatment raises NAD+ levels in mouse fat and liver tissue… Continue reading Dopamine Enhances Immune Cell Response Against Senescent Cells
Category: Immunity
Mayo Clinic Finds Potent NAD⁺ Booster Promotes Inflammatory Response
Key Points: The NAD+ precursor NRH increases NAD+ levels in immune cells when other NAD+ precursors (NAM, NMN, and NR) do not. More than NMN, NRH promotes the activation of genes associated with inflammation in mouse immune cells. NRH and to a lesser degree NMN also promote inflammation in human-derived immune cells. When can too… Continue reading Mayo Clinic Finds Potent NAD⁺ Booster Promotes Inflammatory Response
Study Shows that Deleting the Protein-Building Block Transporter xCT Increases Lifespan and Improves Memory in Mice
Key Points: Genetic deletion of the xCT – a transporter that moves the amino acids glutamate out of the cell and cystine into the cell – increases the lifespan of mice. Deleting xCT reduces the age-related body-wide overactive immune response and improves the inflammatory status of the hippocampus – a brain region associated with memory.… Continue reading Study Shows that Deleting the Protein-Building Block Transporter xCT Increases Lifespan and Improves Memory in Mice
What Drives Aging?
Key Points: NAD+ declines with age largely due to the activation of CD38, an enzyme activated by the inflammation produced by senescent cells – cells that no longer grow or replicate. In a feed-forward cycle, the decline of NAD+ by CD38 induces the spread of more senescent cells and inflammation. Halting this cycle could prevent… Continue reading What Drives Aging?
Caloric Restriction Decreases Inflammation in Humans
Highlights: Restricting caloric intake by 14% prevents the shrinkage of the thymus, an immune system organ that deteriorates with aging. The immune system of fat tissue is less inflammatory in calorically restricted participants. A gene called PLA2G7 mediates the benefits of caloric restriction and is a potential mimetic of caloric restriction. Whether eating fewer calories… Continue reading Caloric Restriction Decreases Inflammation in Humans
Japanese Researchers Show Fisetin Alleviates Depression
Highlights: Many lupus patients suffer from depression, the biological causes of which are not fully understood. Removing cells in an arrested state known as senescence from the brains of lupus mice reduces depression-like behavior. Senolytic compounds, drugs that target and remove senescent cells, could help treat depression in lupus patients. Senolytic compounds are an exciting… Continue reading Japanese Researchers Show Fisetin Alleviates Depression
Increasing NAD⁺ levels May Bolster Innate Immunity to Coronaviruses
Coronavirus genomes, which contain the instructions for constructing and assembling the virus, lack the ability to encode enzymes required for energy production and the generation of biological building blocks. Thus, the assembly of these viruses is dependent on the utilization of infected host cell processes. The viral genome-encoded processes for energy production and the generation… Continue reading Increasing NAD⁺ levels May Bolster Innate Immunity to Coronaviruses
Researchers Propose that Cellular NAD+ Levels Play Key Roles in the Immune Response to COVID-19
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a critical player in an array of processes from creating energy for and maintaining the health of cells as well as controlling cell behaviors, such as immune responses to viral infections. In both animals and people, levels of NAD+ diminish with age. This reduction comes as a cost to our… Continue reading Researchers Propose that Cellular NAD+ Levels Play Key Roles in the Immune Response to COVID-19
Activating Immune Cells with a Common Vitamin to Fight Off Deadly Brain Cancer
Uncontrollably growing cells can form tumors, and when tumors form, they are confronted and invaded by the body’s defense–the immune system. Yet tumors often disarm our protective immune cells, which renders them ineffective and eliminates their cancer cell killing capabilities. This is true for the deadly and highly incurable brain cancer called glioblastoma. So, finding… Continue reading Activating Immune Cells with a Common Vitamin to Fight Off Deadly Brain Cancer