Key aspects of the ageing of human cells can be reversed by new compounds developed at the University of Exeter, research shows. In a laboratory study of endothelial cells which line the inside of blood vessels  researchers tested compounds designed to target mitochondria (the "power stations" of cells).

In the samples used in the study, the number of senescent cells (older cells that have deteriorated and stopped dividing) was reduced by up to 50%. The Exeter team also identified two splicing factors (a component of cells) that play a key role in when and how endothelial cells become senescent.

The findings raise the possibility of future treatments not only for blood vessels -- which become stiffer as they age, raising the risk of problems including heart attacks and strokes -- but also for other cells.

As human bodies age, they accumulate old (senescent) cells that do not function as well as younger cells. This is not just an effect of ageing - it's a reason why we age.

The compounds developed at Exeter have the potential to tweak the mechanisms by which this ageing of cells happens. We used to think age-related diseases like cancer, dementia and diabetes each had a unique cause, but they actually track back to one or two common mechanisms.

This research focuses on one of these mechanisms, and the findings with our compounds have potentially opened up the way for new therapeutic approaches in the future. This may well be the basis for a new generation of anti-degenerative drugs.

In a paper published last year, the team demonstrated a new way to rejuvenate old cells in the laboratory. However, the new research looked at precisely targeting and rejuvenating mitochondria in old cells. Each one of our genes is capable of making more than one product, and splicing factors are the genes that make the decision about which of these products are made.

In this new work, using novel chemicals, the researchers were able to very specifically target two splicing factors (SRSF2 or HNRNPD) that play a key role in determining how and why our cells change with advancing age.

The researchers tested three different compounds, all developed at the University of Exeter, and found each produced a 40-50% drop in the number of senescent blood vessel cells.

The compounds in question AP39, AP123 and RT01  have been designed by the Exeter team to selectively deliver minute quantities of the gas hydrogen sulfide to the mitochondria in cells and help the old or damaged cells to generate the 'energy' needed for survival and to reduce senescence.