Category Archives: Longevity Medicine

New mission for salinomycin in cancer by Cord Naujokat, SciTopics, July 15, 2010. Excerpt (in the “continue reading” section):

In addition, a very recent study demonstrates that salinomycin overcomes ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter-mediated multidrug and apoptosis resistance in human leukemia stem cell-like cells (3).

Reference #3: Salinomycin overcomes ABC transporter-mediated multidrug and apoptosis resistance in human leukemia stem cell-like KG-1a cells, by Dominik Fuchs and 4 co-authors, including Cord Naujokat, Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2010(Apr 16);394(4): 1098-104 [Epub 2010(Mar 27)][PubMed citation].

Comments: Near the end of this article about salinomycin is the comment that “the investigation of its safety, toxicity, pharmacology and anticancer activity in humans will be a challenge.” The author then mentions a preliminary study of “a small cohort of patients with metastatic breast cancer or metastatic head and neck cancers“. The results of this preliminary study of the toxicity of salinomycin are summarized. They have not yet been published in the peer-reviewed literature, although a manuscript has been submitted [see reference #4 in the article]. The implication of these preliminary results is that there may be a “therapeutic window” for salinomycin, that is, a drug dosage that yields clinically significant benefits in the absence of excessive toxicity.

For a previous commentary on salinomycin, see: Cancer stem cell breakthrough by Kat Arney, Science Update blog, Cancer Research UK, August 14, 2009. Excerpt:

We need to stress that these were laboratory experiments, and there is no evidence yet that salinomycin can treat cancer in humans. Salinomycin is currently used as an antibiotic for chickens and cows, and it can be toxic or even fatal to humans, causing serious muscle and heart problems.

If there is a “therapeutic window” for salinomycin, it could be a small one, and is likely to vary from one tumor to another.

For a previous post to this blog about salinomycin, see: Identification of selective inhibitors of breast CSCs in mice, August 14, 2009.

A position paper by Aubrey de Grey, a number of other important biogerontologists, and folk from the LifeStar Institute: "The social and medical costs of the biological aging process are high and will rise rapidly in coming decades, creating an enormous challenge to societies worldwide. In recent decades, researchers have expanded their understanding of the underlying deleterious structural and physiological changes (aging damage) that underlie the progressive functional impairments, declining health, and rising mortality of aging humans and other organisms and have been able to intervene in the process in model organisms, even late in life. To preempt a global aging crisis, we advocate an ambitious global initiative to translate these findings into interventions for aging humans, using three complementary approaches to retard, arrest, and even reverse aging damage, extending and even restoring the period of youthful health and functionality of older people." This more or less reflects the LifeStar Institute position, complementary with that of the SENS Foundation, but with more of an organizational focus.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20630854

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Via ScienceDaily: "Mammals with larger brains in relation to body size tend to live longer. This is the conclusion reached by researchers [after] having analysed almost 500 mammal species and obtaining new data on the relation between brain size and lifespan. ... The brain size of some mammals is larger than expected for their body size. This is the case of large primates, such as chimpanzees and gorilla, and of whales, dolphins and elephants. Scientists have spent years investigating why sometimes nature favours the development of large brains given that they require much more time to reach functional maturity and use up so much energy. ... the size of the brain affects lifespan regardless of the size of the body. Hyenas, for example, have a larger brain than giraffes in proportion to body size and on average live longer, although they are smaller than these herbivores. ... it is possible that a longer life works in favour of a delay in reproductive cycles and this would in turn allow progenitors to invest more resources and time in caring for their offspring. This also leads to the formation of stable social groups whose members, according to the Social Intelligence Hypothesis (SIH), must deal with more cognitive demands than animals living alone, and this would be the reason for larger brains."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100715110001.htm

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

This opinion piece is an example of the sort of viewpoint held by those who believe that metabolic manipulation to modestly slow aging is the only viable way forward in longevity science: "When I tell people that anti-aging drugs are no longer a distant prospect, they often assume I'm talking about the quest for immortality. That's not surprising, given the buzz generated in recent years by visionaries who speculate about re-engineering the human body to last thousands of years. But actually I don't find that far-out prospect very interesting - it bears the same relationship to serious aging science that warp-drive spaceships do to aeronautical engineering. What really grabs me are experimental advances that may impinge on the lives of people I know, maybe even mine. ... the only practical, near-term way to substantially increase healthy life span today is to simultaneously lower the risk of all diseases of aging. The way we now mainly buy time - administering therapies for one progressive, old-age disease at a time when it's too late to do much good - can't do that. Anti-aging drugs could, and at the same time they would go a long way toward ending the ruinously costly game of diminishing returns we're playing in geriatric medicine, as we eke out incremental gains with ever pricier palliatives. In effect, they would be preventive medicines of unprecedented scope and efficacy, drastically lowering the risk of everything from Alzheimer's to osteoporosis to wrinkles in the way that hypertension drugs now cut heart-attack risk."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-stipp/why-anti-aging-science-re_b_644308.html

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

From the LifeStar Institute: "Leaders in the biology and polices of aging research at the first LifeStar Institute Global Aging Science Summit conclude the time has come to launch an ambitious global effort to keep aging generations youthful, productive, and engaged to unprecedented ages. In laboratories all over the world, using genome sciences, diets including calorie restriction, and techniques of cell science and regenerative medicine, scientists are now keeping living organisms alive and healthy for increasing lengths of time never before thought possible. The obvious question: When will medical science do the same for us? ... The scientific panel proposes that the United States and nations across the world create a global collaboration and launch an Apollo-like Project with the following goal: translate laboratory knowledge about the degenerative changes of aging into new kinds of medicines for humans that can prevent and repair those changes. The panel urges governments and the biomedical industry to fund three key initiatives: (1) Use public health agencies to inform citizens on how they can improve their lifestyles. (2) Develop the first genuine anti-aging medicines that are able to boost the body's ability to maintain health (3) Develop and apply regenerative methods that can remove, replace, repair, and neutralize the cellular and molecular damage that accumulate in aging bodies and restore youthful structure and function."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.lifestarinstitute.org/index.php?pagename=aging_science_meeting_paper

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/