Body
Is there a way to turn back the clock on aging? Mitra Lavasani, PhD, director of the Translational Cell Therapy Lab at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is working with her team to find out.
Stem cell therapy has long been seen as a promising way to help the body repair itself and rejuvenate aged tissues. However, scientists have lacked an answer to a key question: What exactly makes these cells so powerful?
A first-of-its-kind study in Aging Cell by Dr. Lavasani and Seth Thompson, PhD, suggests the answer may not be in the cells themselves, but in the secreted factors they release.
A Novel Discovery: The Rejuvenating Effects of Stem Cell Proteins
Body
Inside the body, stem cells can act like tiny communication hubs. They release proteins and other molecules that “tell” surrounding tissues how to heal, adapt and function. These signals can travel throughout the body, influencing everything from muscle strength to blood vessel health.
This new study closely examined a specific type of multipotent stem cell called muscle-derived stem/progenitor cells (MDSPCs). These multipotent stem cells are adult stem cells capable of differentiating into a range of cell types across various organ lineages. They are crucial for tissue repair, regeneration and maintaining cell populations throughout life.
The researchers introduced young donor stem cells into older mice. The results showed improvements in multiple parts of the body affected by aging, even in places where no donor stem cells were detected. Muscle tissues became healthier, cellular energy production improved and important protective barriers — such as those surrounding the brain — were reinforced.
The team found that the key to these improvements may not be the cells themselves, but rather what they produce. Stem cells from younger sources generated a rich mix of proteins linked to healthy blood flow, healthier immune responses and better overall tissue function. However, as these cells aged, they released far fewer of these helpful factors.
“This decline may help explain why the body becomes less efficient at repairing itself over time,” said Dr. Lavasani.
“What distinguishes this work is its ability to connect these physiological improvements to specific factors secreted by the young stem cells,” said Dr. Thompson.
Opening the Door to Targeted ‘Anti-Aging’ Protein Therapy
Body
By identifying the specific protein signals responsible for these rejuvenating effects, Drs. Lavasani and Thompson said their study opens the door to a new kind of therapy. Instead of transplanting stem cells, future treatments could deliver carefully selected combinations of these proteins directly to the body, offering therapies that are safer, more targeted and more consistent than stem cell treatments.
“A promising next step is to test these ‘pro-rejuvenating’ factors as a combinatorial therapy — using two or more treatment methods at the same time, to enhance results — aimed at improving neuromusculoskeletal health and function,” said Dr. Thompson.
“These discoveries give our lab a clear path to develop clinically applicable interventions that directly address age-related tissue decline,” said Dr. Lavasani. “Our goal is to translate these findings into therapies that are safe, reproducible and accessible. We are especially encouraged by the potential to help a large portion of the patients we treat at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab every day — those with impaired healing or degenerative conditions — by improving recovery and overall quality of life.”
Additional Shirley Ryan AbilityLab researchers who contributed to the study were Sudarshan Dayanidhi, PT, PhD, research scientist in the hospital’s Pediatric Muscle Physiology Lab, as well as Maddlyn Haller, research laboratory technician, and Chelsea Rugel, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, both from the Translational Cell Therapy Lab.
This study built on earlier funding Dr. Lavasani received in 2020 as part of Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s Sheli Z. and Burton X. Rosenberg Catalyst Grant Program — which provides seed funding for the most promising, employee-driven research pilot projects — leading to a prestigious Research Project (R01) grant from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute on Aging. Additional funding came from the Julius N. Frankel Foundation and the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation.
With this support, her team used advanced analytical approaches to identify the key proteins produced by her stem cells, highlighting candidates that may be responsible for anti-aging effects observed in preclinical studies.
