Researchers in Bonn examine how treatment with tetrahydrocannabinol affects the mTOR metabolic pathway.
A low-dose, long-term administration of cannabis has been shown to not only reverse aging processes in the brain but also exhibit anti-aging effects. Researchers from University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, in collaboration with a team from Hebrew University in Israel, demonstrated this effect in mice.
The key to this discovery lies in the protein switch mTOR, which influences cognitive performance and metabolic processes throughout the body. These findings have been published in the journal ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science.
Information about the availability or scarcity of resources is of crucial importance for the regulation of metabolism. The so-called metabolome is a complex reaction network that summarizes all metabolic properties of a cell or tissue. In higher organisms, the protein mTOR [Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin] is the central hub for cell growth and metabolism.
As a sensitive intracellular energy sensor system, its activity has a major influence on aging by regulating cell metabolism. A reduction in mTOR activity through a low-calorie diet, intensive physical activity, or pharmacological treatment therefore has a general anti-ageing effect. In addition to an altered metabolism, the aging of the brain is also accompanied by a reduced ability to change neuronal connections, known as synaptic plasticity. Reduced mTOR activity can therefore also have a negative effect on the aging brain by reducing the formation of new synapses on a nerve cell and thus also cognitive abilities.
"Therefore, anti-aging strategies based on the reduction of mTOR activity might not only be ineffective but even counterproductive against brain aging. In our current work, we have now found a strategy to solve this dilemma," says Prof. Dr. Andreas Zimmer, Director of the Institute of Molecular Psychiatry at the UKB and member of the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 at the University of Bonn.
Cannabis reverses the aging process in the brain
In a previous study, the Bonn researchers, together with a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, were able to show that long-term, low-dose administration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in cannabis, has an anti-aging effect on the brain by restoring cognitive abilities and synapse density in old mice. Whether changes in mTOR signaling and the metabolome are linked to the positive effects on the aging brain has remained an open question.
"We have now been able to show that treatment with THC has a tissue-dependent and dual effect on mTOR signaling and the metabolome," says Dr. Andras Bilkei-Gorzo from the Institute of Molecular Psychiatry at the UKB, who is also a researcher at the University of Bonn. Thus, THC treatment in the brain led to a transient increase in mTOR activity and levels of intermediates involved in energy production and amino acids. The latter enabled an increased synthesis of synaptic proteins and thus the formation of new synapses.
Unexpectedly, on the other hand, the Bonn researchers found a similarly strong reduction in mTOR activity of mice in adipose tissue and in the content of amino acids and carbohydrate metabolites in blood plasma as after a low-calorie diet or after intensive physical activity.
"We concluded that long-term THC treatment initially has a cognition-enhancing effect by increasing energy and synaptic protein production in the brain, followed by an anti-aging effect by decreasing mTOR activity and metabolic processes in the periphery," says Bilkei-Gorzo. "Our study suggests that a dual effect on mTOR activity and the metabolome could be the basis for an effective anti-aging and cognition-enhancing drug."
Reference: "Bidirectional Effect of Long-Term Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Treatment on mTOR Activity and Metabolome" by Andras Bilkei-Gorzo, Britta Schurmann, Marion Schneider, Michael Kraemer, Prakash Nidadavolu, Eva C. Beins, Christa E. Müller, Mona Dvir-Ginzberg and Andreas Zimmer, 14 August 2024, ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science.
DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.4c00002
This work was funded by the German Research Foundation and the German Excellence Strategy.
News
Researcher at Russian plague laboratory dies of ‘unknown’ infection
Russian authorities have imposed "anti-epidemic measures" after a laboratory worker at an institute in Siberia dedicated to studying the plague and other infectious diseases died of a mysterious illness. The researcher, a 28-year-old female [...]
GHCE Concept
From the preface of the book Global Health Care Equivalency in the Age of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Artificial Intelligence, Edited by Frank Boehm: Since the publication of my first book (Nanomedical Device and Systems [...]
A Surprising Brain Signal Could Explain Why Eating Less Protein Extends Lifespan
A new paper suggests that limiting protein intake triggers a coordinated response throughout the body that may help explain how protein restriction affects healthy aging. Animals respond to protein restriction, or reduced protein in [...]
Back and shoulder surgery is often worse than useless
Millions of operations should be scrapped SIX IN TEN Britons have surgery at some point. So do lots of Americans, at a cost of perhaps $500bn a year, a third of all spending on [...]
Cocaine plays with mind, hijacks brain circuit, drives increasingly rigid and repetitive behavior
Researchers have found that cocaine hijacks brain circuit, which to drive increasingly rigid and repetitive behavior. The brain circuit that normally participates in selecting natural mouth and face movements, but which becomes disproportionately engaged [...]
Injectable nanodevices could provide effective treatment for drug-resistant glioblastoma
The brain cancer glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant cancers known to medicine, carrying a median survival of just 12-15 months, even with the best available care. Now, researchers at the [...]
New Treatment Cuts “Bad” Cholesterol in Half for a Full Year
A single infusion of an experimental CRISPR-Cas9 therapy was reported to safely lower LDL cholesterol by 52.5% and triglycerides by 47.8%, as measured 12 months after treatment. What if one infusion could keep cholesterol [...]
Too Much RNA Can Drain a Cell’s Energy, Scientists Discover
A virus may cripple a cell’s power supply simply by producing too much of a molecule the cell needs to survive. New research from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences [...]
West African scientists warn of weakening health systems and urge stronger outbreak detection
LOME, Togo (AP) — West African laboratory scientists called on governments Friday to strengthen capacity to detect disease outbreaks to avoid another major outbreak, saying health systems across the region are becoming weaker. Participants [...]
A Little-Known Protein Could Point to a New Way To Treat Alzheimer’s
A study suggests that increasing SORLA protein levels could help treat Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders involving tau protein. Increasing SORLA, a protein with a protective role in the brain, helped mice withstand damage [...]
Cancer’s Hidden Antioxidant Shield Helps It Escape the Immune System
Blocking an antioxidant protein that tumors use to suppress immune attacks improved cancer immunotherapy responses in mice. Cancer cells can release antioxidants that interfere with the immune cells trying to kill them. Researchers have [...]
Scientists Find a Berry Compound That Helps Muscle Cells Burn Fat
Pterostilbene, a compound found naturally in some foods, affects how skeletal muscles process fats by stabilizing a protein called PPARδ and increasing its signaling activity. Pterostilbene, a natural compound found in blueberries, grapes, and [...]
Two Hidden Forces Help Build the Human Brain Before Birth
Scientists have uncovered two surprising forces that help guide how the human brain forms before birth. Before birth, the human brain is shaped in large part by an unusual class of stem cells known [...]
Researchers Uncover a Hidden Trigger Behind Chronic Inflammation
The findings offer new insights that could help guide the development of future therapies. A protein called human resistin may help flip on one of the immune system’s most powerful inflammatory switches. Researchers at [...]
Scientists Have Uncovered Previously Hidden Microbial Activity on Human Skin
The most abundant microbes on your skin may not be the ones doing most of the work. Human skin supports vast communities of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that can influence its protective barrier, immune [...]
Brazilian Tree Compounds Fight COVID-19 on Multiple Fronts
Scientists found compounds in a Brazilian tree that hit SARS-CoV-2 on multiple fronts, revealing a promising new lead in the search for COVID-19 treatments. Researchers have found that galloylquinic acids extracted from the leaves [...]
