Scientists studying mice were able to reverse signs of ageing in the heart by using growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11), which is found at higher levels in the blood of young mice.
The study was published in Cell, and Nature provides more background and quotes from the authors.
“I think it’s a stunning result that, for the first time, points at a secreted protein that maintains the heart in a young state,” says cardiologist Deepak Srivastava, director of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in San Francisco, California, who was not involved with the research. “That’s pretty remarkable.”
The team now plans to investigate whether GDF11 effects ageing in other tissues in mice and if it could have similar effects in humans.