To elucidate the mechanism of longevity, a special immune cell for people over 110 years old, November 13, 5:16
For those with a long life span, especially those who are 110 years of age or older, RIKEN and others have found that they have a lot of special immune cells that are rarely found in normal people. It is attracting attention as it leads to the elucidation of the mechanism of longevity.
The RIKEN and Keio University groups examined the blood of seven healthy men and women out of approximately 140 people over 110 in Japan.
As a result, there are many immune cells “killer T cells” that attack cancer cells in the blood of people over the age of 110. Especially, the cells called “CD4 positive killer T cells” are in their 20s to 70s. Compared to the average of 45 people, it was about 10 times included.
In particular, long-lived people seem to maintain their health through strong immunity against infectious diseases and cancers. What role will “CD4-positive killer T cells” play in the research group in the future? I want to clarify.
The research results are published in the online edition of the scientific journal "Academic Bulletin of the American Academy of Sciences" and are attracting attention as they lead to the elucidation of the mechanism of longevity.
Kosuke Hashimoto, a researcher at RIKEN Biomedical Science Research Center, said, “The characteristics of people with longevity have hardly been understood at the cellular level so far. The