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A home experiment during a lockdown can be the key to longevity.
A short series of electrical impulses has significantly improved the condition of ascidia, small marine animals, which have long been used in stem cell studies. After processing the colony grew faster, multiplied more actively, health persisted longer and lived significantly longer than the control group. The work went to PNAS, and the authors believe that the result will help to better understand how stem cells age and whether it is possible to start restorative processes in them.
Ascidia, or sea sprayfish, outwardly does not look like a person. These are mild jelly-like invertebrates that can resemble small bright petals. But biologists are not interested in them because of their appearance. Ascidia and humans have about 70% of total genetic material because their evolutionary lines date back to a common ancestor that lived about 500 million years ago. Therefore, such animals study immunity, regeneration and the work of stem cells.
The main convenience of ascidia is that their tissues are constantly updated. In colonial forms, the body is rebuilt about once a week, and this cycle is clearly visible in the laboratory. Stem cells in such a system work as a source of new material: they divide, maintain their own stock and give rise to different types of cells when the body needs to replace old or damaged tissues.
For a person, similar processes are also important, but it is much more difficult to observe them. In our body, stem cells support blood, skin, intestines and other tissues, but over time lose effectiveness. In ascidents, aging is especially evident: as long as stem cells cope well with the renewal, the colony remains viable; when this reserve begins to give, the condition of the whole body deteriorates.
Ascidia is also useful for studying immunity. Kinol colonies can merge and form a common circulatory system. At such moments, the body must understand which cells to count their own, and which ones to reject. Studies of such mergers have helped develop a direction known as stem cell competition. It is about the rivalry of different cell lines for the place and resources within the body. Now this process is associated with aging, inflammation, cancer and a number of other diseases.
The Stanford group has been studying asclides at Hopkins Maritime Station for more than 20 years. During this time, scientists have traced more than a thousand cycles of regeneration. The new experiment began during the lockdowns of 2020 almost as a home scientific project. Stanford Senior Researcher Jos Domain was looking for a topic for Erica’s daughter and decided to check how the pacemaker would affect tiny hearts in an ascidia colony. The idea was helped by the development of Kimberly Gandy, a cardiac surgeon and co-author of the work.
Each individual body has its own heart in the colony. Together, these little hearts drive blood through the general system. The researchers hypothes suggested that electrical impulses could speed up or better align their work, and at the same time change the bloodstream, growth and the general condition of the colony.
When the frequency of stimulation increased, the hearts of ascidia began to beat faster, and the blood became freer to pass through the general system. The first noticeable changes appeared after 48 hours. In the following days, individual individuals increased in size, became lighter, grew faster and gave more offspring. For ascidia, such signs indicate a younger physiological state, and not just a short reaction after irritation.
After the first observations, the researchers repeated the experience many times and selected a minimal regime that gave a strong effect without unnecessary exposure. The best scheme was three series of pulses for five minutes. Just 15 minutes of stimulation was enough to start changes that lasted for a long time.
The most notable result is due to survival. Approximately 75% of the treated ascides remained alive and healthy a year after the stimulation. In the control group without pulses of such animals was less than 20%. For an organism that usually lives in nature for only a few months, the difference was large. But it is impossible to transfer conclusions to humans directly: researchers studied a specific species, a specific mode of influence and a special model of regeneration.
Molecular data helped to understand what happened inside the cells. Scientists measured the activity of genes immediately after processing and 24 hours later. First, the work of many genes decreased, then some of the systems were re-inclusive at a higher level. Researchers describe this as a short stress phase with subsequent recovery. A similar logic is familiar with physical activity: heavy training first creates stress and inflammatory signal, and then starts adaptation and strengthening of tissues.
The probable mechanism is associated with mitochondria and metabolism. Mitochondria help the cell get energy from nutrients. When aging, they often work worse, and it becomes more difficult for tissues to recover. The authors suggest that a precisely selected electrical impulse can temporarily shake up the cellular energy systems and help stem cells work more actively.
For medicine, the main interest is not to rejuvenate a person with a short series of impulses. A more realistic task is another: to understand whether it is possible to support individual cell populations, such as blood stem cells, and increase their resistance. This approach in the future can be useful in restorative medicine, the treatment of infertility and work with cellular drugs. But the regime that worked for ascidia can not just be transferred to people without long checks.
There is also an environmental direction. If bioelectric pulses do strengthen stem cells and immune responses in marine organisms, similar methods can ever help species that suffer from ocean warming and acidification. So far, this is not a ready-made technology for reefs or other ecosystems, but a direction for future experiments. Scientists need to understand which cells respond to stimulation, how long the effect persists and whether the intervention has any side effects.
The study does not prove that a person’s aging can be turned on electricity. Ascidia quickly renew tissues, live differently and arranged more easily. But the experience showed an important thing: a short bioelectric signal can change the work of stem cells for a long time in an animal close to the vertebrates in evolutionary history. The next step for researchers is to figure out exactly how impulses bind mitochondria, gene activity and regeneration.
A short series of electrical impulses has significantly improved the condition of ascidia, small marine animals, which have long been used in stem cell studies. After processing the colony grew faster, multiplied more actively, health persisted longer and lived significantly longer than the control group. The work went to PNAS, and the authors believe that the result will help to better understand how stem cells age and whether it is possible to start restorative processes in them.
Ascidia, or sea sprayfish, outwardly does not look like a person. These are mild jelly-like invertebrates that can resemble small bright petals. But biologists are not interested in them because of their appearance. Ascidia and humans have about 70% of total genetic material because their evolutionary lines date back to a common ancestor that lived about 500 million years ago. Therefore, such animals study immunity, regeneration and the work of stem cells.
The main convenience of ascidia is that their tissues are constantly updated. In colonial forms, the body is rebuilt about once a week, and this cycle is clearly visible in the laboratory. Stem cells in such a system work as a source of new material: they divide, maintain their own stock and give rise to different types of cells when the body needs to replace old or damaged tissues.
For a person, similar processes are also important, but it is much more difficult to observe them. In our body, stem cells support blood, skin, intestines and other tissues, but over time lose effectiveness. In ascidents, aging is especially evident: as long as stem cells cope well with the renewal, the colony remains viable; when this reserve begins to give, the condition of the whole body deteriorates.
Ascidia is also useful for studying immunity. Kinol colonies can merge and form a common circulatory system. At such moments, the body must understand which cells to count their own, and which ones to reject. Studies of such mergers have helped develop a direction known as stem cell competition. It is about the rivalry of different cell lines for the place and resources within the body. Now this process is associated with aging, inflammation, cancer and a number of other diseases.
The Stanford group has been studying asclides at Hopkins Maritime Station for more than 20 years. During this time, scientists have traced more than a thousand cycles of regeneration. The new experiment began during the lockdowns of 2020 almost as a home scientific project. Stanford Senior Researcher Jos Domain was looking for a topic for Erica’s daughter and decided to check how the pacemaker would affect tiny hearts in an ascidia colony. The idea was helped by the development of Kimberly Gandy, a cardiac surgeon and co-author of the work.
Each individual body has its own heart in the colony. Together, these little hearts drive blood through the general system. The researchers hypothes suggested that electrical impulses could speed up or better align their work, and at the same time change the bloodstream, growth and the general condition of the colony.
When the frequency of stimulation increased, the hearts of ascidia began to beat faster, and the blood became freer to pass through the general system. The first noticeable changes appeared after 48 hours. In the following days, individual individuals increased in size, became lighter, grew faster and gave more offspring. For ascidia, such signs indicate a younger physiological state, and not just a short reaction after irritation.
After the first observations, the researchers repeated the experience many times and selected a minimal regime that gave a strong effect without unnecessary exposure. The best scheme was three series of pulses for five minutes. Just 15 minutes of stimulation was enough to start changes that lasted for a long time.
The most notable result is due to survival. Approximately 75% of the treated ascides remained alive and healthy a year after the stimulation. In the control group without pulses of such animals was less than 20%. For an organism that usually lives in nature for only a few months, the difference was large. But it is impossible to transfer conclusions to humans directly: researchers studied a specific species, a specific mode of influence and a special model of regeneration.
Molecular data helped to understand what happened inside the cells. Scientists measured the activity of genes immediately after processing and 24 hours later. First, the work of many genes decreased, then some of the systems were re-inclusive at a higher level. Researchers describe this as a short stress phase with subsequent recovery. A similar logic is familiar with physical activity: heavy training first creates stress and inflammatory signal, and then starts adaptation and strengthening of tissues.
The probable mechanism is associated with mitochondria and metabolism. Mitochondria help the cell get energy from nutrients. When aging, they often work worse, and it becomes more difficult for tissues to recover. The authors suggest that a precisely selected electrical impulse can temporarily shake up the cellular energy systems and help stem cells work more actively.
For medicine, the main interest is not to rejuvenate a person with a short series of impulses. A more realistic task is another: to understand whether it is possible to support individual cell populations, such as blood stem cells, and increase their resistance. This approach in the future can be useful in restorative medicine, the treatment of infertility and work with cellular drugs. But the regime that worked for ascidia can not just be transferred to people without long checks.
There is also an environmental direction. If bioelectric pulses do strengthen stem cells and immune responses in marine organisms, similar methods can ever help species that suffer from ocean warming and acidification. So far, this is not a ready-made technology for reefs or other ecosystems, but a direction for future experiments. Scientists need to understand which cells respond to stimulation, how long the effect persists and whether the intervention has any side effects.
The study does not prove that a person’s aging can be turned on electricity. Ascidia quickly renew tissues, live differently and arranged more easily. But the experience showed an important thing: a short bioelectric signal can change the work of stem cells for a long time in an animal close to the vertebrates in evolutionary history. The next step for researchers is to figure out exactly how impulses bind mitochondria, gene activity and regeneration.
