Ccr3 modulation in the treatment of aging-associated impairments, and compositions for practicing the same

Abstract

Methods of treating an adult mammal for an aging-associated impairment are provided. Aspects of the methods include modulating CCR3, e.g., by modulating eotaxin-1 / CCR3 interaction, in the mammal in a manner sufficient to treat the mammal for the aging-associated impairment. A variety of aging-associated impairments may be treated by practice of the methods, which impairments include cognitive impairments.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 14 / 280,939 filed May 19, 2014; which application is a Continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 13 / 575,437, filed on Oct. 9, 2012 and now abandoned; which application is a 35 U.S.C. §371 National Phase Entry Application of International Application Serial No. PCT / US2011 / 022916, filed Jan. 28, 2011, which designates the United States, and which claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of the U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61 / 298,998, filed on Jan. 28, 2010; the disclosures of which applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.GOVERNMENT RIGHTS[0002]This invention was made with Government support from grant number AG027505 and OD000392 awarded by the National Institutes of Health. The Government has certain rights in the invention.INTRODUCTION[0003]Aging in an organism is accompanied by an accumulation of changes over ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent text describes a method for studying the effects of global age-dependent changes on neurogenesis, or the formation of new nerve cells, in both young and old mice. The researchers compared the size of neurons in young mice that had been raised together (called parabionts) and found that those in young mice that had been raised together showed a decrease in length compared to mice that had been raised separately. This decrease in length was caused by a reduction in the number of neurogenic cells in the brain. The researchers also tested the effects of a protein called CCL11, which is involved in neurogenesis and found that increasing the systemic levels of CCL11 partially recapitulated some of the inhibitory effects on neurogenesis observed with aging and heterochronic parabiosis, or the process of transferring young and old animals to new environments. Overall, the invention provides a method for studying the effects of global age-dependent changes on neurogenesis and potential treatments for brain regeneration.

Problems solved by technology

Included in these changes are synapse loss and the loss of neuronal function that results.

Thus, although significant neuronal death is typically not observed during the natural aging process, neurons in the aging brain are vulnerable to sub-lethal age-related alterations in structure, synaptic integrity, and molecular processing at the synapse, all of which impair cognitive function.

Images