r/longevity • u/chromosomalcrossover • 14d ago

Boosting brain’s waste removal system improves memory in old mice

https://medicine.washu.edu/news/boosting-brains-waste-removal-system-improves-memory-in-old-mice/
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176

u/akura202 14d ago

This is awesome! How are they cleaning the brains tho?

134

u/Canalloni 14d ago

They forgot to include that.

95

u/adistantrumble 14d ago

If they tell us for free then they can't sell it to us later.

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u/Spatulakoenig 13d ago

One of the things used was Olamkicept.

The other was gene therapy - AAV1-CMV-mVEGF-C is a viral vector used to deliver the mouse VEGF-C gene. Here’s a breakdown of what it means:

  1. AAV1

This stands for Adeno-Associated Virus serotype 1. AAVs are commonly used viral vectors in gene therapy because they’re relatively safe and efficient at delivering genetic material into cells. Serotype 1 (AAV1) has a particular tropism for muscle and nervous tissues, making it useful in brain and spinal cord studies.

  1. CMV

This refers to the Cytomegalovirus immediate early promoter, a strong promoter commonly used in gene therapy to drive high levels of gene expression in a wide range of cell types, including neurons and glia.

  1. mVEGF-C

This stands for mouse Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C.

  • VEGF-C is a member of the VEGF family involved in the development of lymphatic and blood vessels (angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis).
  • The “m” prefix indicates that the gene is derived from mouse, which is important in preclinical research using mouse models.

It promotes lymphangiogenesis in the brain.

Here's the full paper with a wide variety of tests00210-7), some of which were surgical in nature.

8

u/wordyplayer 13d ago

is there any at-home remedies to do this yet?

24

u/Spatulakoenig 13d ago

Two easy improvements are:

  1. To increase the washing effect, make sure you have enough deep sleep.
  2. Reduce inflammation to reduce Interleukin 6.

2

u/baelrog 12d ago

How do I reduce inflammation?

18

u/TomasTTEngin 14d ago

"intracisternal injection of AAV1-CMV-mVEGF-C". Obviously. ;)

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u/Emm_withoutha_L-88 13d ago

Someone explained it was iirc something done to the rats before they were born. So completely impossible to do in humans.

But still apparently let's them learn something that I don't yet understand.

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u/LastCall2021 14d ago

They’re being really cagey in the article. The only hint they gave was therapy was something that stimulated vessel growth. So maybe some kind of angiogenic compound.

13

u/talligan 14d ago

Because the research isn't about how to improve drainage, it's about how drainage impacts memory so their methodology isn't meant to be used at home by bro scientists. The paper appears to be open source with the DOI link right at the bottom of the paper. The methodology is there in full.

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u/[deleted] 14d ago

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18

u/PolarityInversion 14d ago

Basically gene therapy. Excerpt from the study below. They use an Adeno-associated virus to improve the brain's lymphatic system.

Intracisternal injection of AAV1-CMV-mVEGF-C in aged mice has been shown to enhance the coverage and function of meningeal lymphatics, accompanied by restoration of cognitive deficits.900210-7#),3500210-7#) We delivered AAV1-CMV-mVEGF-C (AAV1-CMV-EGFP was used as a control) and assessed synaptic and behavioral phenotypes 4 weeks later (Figure 500210-7#fig5)C). As previously shown, VEGF-C increased Lyve1+ area coverage (Figure 500210-7#fig5)D). There were no major changes in immune populations in the brain and the dura after VEGF-C treatment (Figures S500210-7#figs5)A–S5D). To our surprise, VEGF-C treatment restored the decreased mIPSC frequency in the mPFC of aged mice compared with EGFP-injected controls (Figure 500210-7#fig5)E).

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u/TomasTTEngin 14d ago

Shame it's not just a drug; hopefully they can find a compound that does something similar.

1

u/notAllBits 13d ago

Well, while you are getting the plumbing done for the computer brain interface: ask for a screw cap on the access port for future fill ups

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u/Storm_blessed946 14d ago

27hp pressure washer, so they say

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u/VisceralMonkey 14d ago

Leaves the brain smoooth and clean!

5

u/Leg_Named_Smith 14d ago

And all ready to carve into a jack’o’latern

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u/[deleted] 14d ago

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8

u/hairyzonnules 14d ago

Normal waste removal processes that just decay with time

3

u/Hyro0o0 14d ago

Steel wool

3

u/Msink 13d ago

That's a flow of liquid that goes through the brain to remove garbage. Called lgymphatic flow.

1

u/dbmajor7 13d ago

Garbage collector?

1

u/SpeeGee 13d ago

They wash them, they call it brain washing /s

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u/chocolatedesire 12d ago

A little bit of bleach and a toothbrush

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u/OddNefariousness5466 10d ago

Full paper: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00210-7

TL;DR (quick read through, lmk if there's something wrong)

They delete various different parts of the IL6 to IL6-receptor pathway that alters microglia expression and ability to remove debris from the lymphatic system. By inhibiting IL6 in aged mice they found the mice had improved cognition. The paper helps connect previous reports of meningeal lymphatic issues with decreased cognition and highlights the potential for IL6 therapy.