Robust Mouse Rejuvenation (RMR1) study update

Thanks for this chart. I reminds me how little I understand the immune system. I will have to study this paper to at least understand the variables at play.

I suppose that different viruses have different modes of attack so why should our response be the same for all viruses, eh? That our physiology is ready for this is also amazing but must come from the fact that viruses were here long before our ancestors arrived on the scene. They and we have never not had to contend with viruses (and more: bacteria, fungus, etc).

I’ll be careful to not leap to conclusions about the immune system based on logic or what makes sense to me.

1 Like

:+1: One good thing to keep in mind is that this chart is not the reality. It’s just some people who have tried to create a map of the reality with the data that they have gathered and most likely this map is not perfect and that errors exist in it. But it’s better than nothing.

3 Likes

4 Likes

Basically nothing has beaten rapamycin yet.

5 Likes

a) Yes in a sense it is easy to look at 50% survival and follow that down to days to get the median lifespan, but it is not precise. The charts should have the number of days on them.
b) We really do need to be told when mice die without direct intervention and when they are euthanised. Otherwise it is difficult to identify if differential approaches to animal welfare are changing the experimental results.

3 Likes

Does anyone know how many HSCTs the RMR1 mice ended up getting? The LEV foundation website mentions tentatively they were only going to get 2 HSCTs, in contrast to the 8 HSCTs that the mice in Guderyon study received. If they only received 2, then we really can’t even count that as a lifespan-extending intervention.

Also, I really don’t like that they used navitoclax as one of the interventions. Unless I’m missing something, there’s no evidence that it even increases lifespan in isolation, so I think they left a lot on the table in terms of the understanding that could’ve been gained regarding interactions and potential synergies of longevity interventions.

You can contact Aubrey de Grey by just mailing him or just contacting him through his social media. He usually answers. On this page the following is said about the interventions. Please share the answer you get from him here if you get one :pray:

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant

Rationale: A reduced regenerative capacity of stem cells is widely believed to contribute to age-related morbidity and functional tissue decline. Numerous studies have shown stem cell transplantation to have rejuvenating effects in mouse tissues, and several additionally show a lifespan extension effect [PMID 32012439, 31031800].

Design: The study design is largely (but see below) based on the protocol utilized by Guderyon et al. 2020 [PMID 32012439] and consists of mobilizing the recipient bone marrow niche followed by transplant of lineage-depleted hematopoietic stem cells (HSCT).

Bone Marrow: We have opted to use lineage-depleted bone marrow HSCs as opposed to additional selection for and expansion of long-term self-renewing HSCs. This was on the basis that 1) prior lifespan studies used whole or lineage-depleted bone marrow, which may include MSCs or other beneficial cells promoting engraftment, and 2) expansion protocols have not been extensively validated.

Mobilization Protocol: We will follow the mobilization protocol for recipient mice as outlined in Guderyon 2020, consisting of G-CSF + AMD3100. Although other newer mobilization reagents require fewer injections, efficacy is not well established; the current protocol is most common for chemical mobilization, has been used in aged mice, and remains the current standard of care for mobilizing HSCs from human BM donors.

# of cells: Each administration will consist of ~2x10⁷ HSCs, derived from 8 sex-matched C57Bl/6J PEP-BOY (CD45.2) donor mice per injection. This number is four-fold greater than the Guderyon study, however in line with other HSCT studies [PMID 31031800, 18491294]. Additionally, it is demonstrated that % donor cell engraftment is largely based on competition with mobilized recipient cells; thus, increasing the donor to recipient ratio in the blood may allow for increased engraftment with each administration allowing for fewer transplants overall and thus less stress on the animals.

Number of Transplant Injections: While the lifespan cohort of the Guderyon study received a total of 8 HSCTs, each round administered only 5x10⁶ lineage-negative (long-term repopulating) donor cells. We wish to minimize the number of administrations for each mouse. Therefore, we will perform 2 rounds of HSCT, a month apart, and then assess the % donor-derived cells (CD45.2) in peripheral blood after 4-8 weeks (timing to coincide with planned blood draw). Whether or not additional rounds of HSCT are performed (for a given experimental group) will be decided based on percentage engraftment in recipient mice.

Senescent Cell Ablation

Rationale: Senescent cells (SnC) are shown to accumulate with age in nearly all tissues, and multiple studies have now shown improvement in healthspan parameters upon SnC removal. Although few of these studies emphasize lifespan effects, we hypothesize that SnC removal is important for mouse longevity due to the role played in immune decline and in cancer – the two leading causes of death in C57Bl/6J mice. We believe an effective senolytic may not only reduce cancer incidence by removal of cells which are cancer-capable (via senescence escape), but also by improving local immune surveillance against abnormal cells, by reducing the SASP’s cloaking effect and relieving systemic immune fatigue from SASP-driven chronic inflammation. In this way, it is also possible that SnC removal can reduce the age-related increase in susceptibility to pathogens.

Design: Discovery of effective senotherapeutic compounds remains an active area of research, with many promising drug candidates in development alongside approaches such as senolytic vaccination using CAR-T cells or conditional suicide gene therapy. Though these second-generation senolytic therapies likely have much to offer in terms of improved specificity and SnC subtype targeting, we felt the current study would benefit most from the extensive data already collected using first generation drugs, and thus selected the broad-spectrum senolytic Navitoclax for inclusion in RMR1. While navitoclax is generally effective as a pan-senolytic compound, ablating SnCs in multiple tissue types while sparing most normal calls, platelets are particularly sensitive to its mechanism of action, Bcl-xl inhibition. To minimize this undesirable side effect, we employed a galactose conjugation prodrug strategy previously developed by colleagues in the field, wherein a galactose moiety attached to the Navitoclcax molecule renders the drug inactive until it can be cleaved by lysosomal beta-galactosidase, an enzyme consistently and considerably elevated in SnCs. ‘Off-target’ activity, for example, against platelets, is greatly reduced in this way, while efficacy against target SnC populations remains largely intact.

2 Likes

Robust Mouse Rejuvenation (RMR) and Combination Rejuvenation Protocols: An Analytical Summary

I. Executive Summary

The primary thesis of the RMR projects, led by Dr. Aubrey de Grey and the LEV Foundation, is that aging is a result of the accumulation of molecular and cellular damage, and that significant life extension requires a combinatorial “damage repair” approach rather than single-intervention “damage slowing” strategies. Current geroscience has largely reached a plateau with single-agent interventions such as calorie restriction (CR) or rapamycin, which typically yield a ~4-month (approx. 15%) lifespan extension in mice when started in middle age (18 months). The RMR strategy aims to achieve “Record-Breaking Mouse Rejuvenation” by combining multiple validated therapies to observe additive or synergistic effects, targeting a 12-month extension in middle-aged cohorts.

The core argument posits that while species like nematodes show massive lifespan extension from single genetic or dietary changes, longer-lived species have evolved more robust compensatory mechanisms, necessitating a “shotgun” approach to repair. RMR1 utilized a four-intervention stack: rapamycin (positive control), telomerase gene therapy (AAV), heterochronic bone marrow (HSC) transplant, and senolytics. Preliminary results indicated clear additivity in female mice, though male cohorts exhibited higher noise and less distinct results.

RMR2 is scaling this protocol to eight interventions, including deuterated fatty acids (D-PUFAs) to combat lipid peroxidation. De Grey acknowledges the “tyranny” of academic and private sector incentives—where journals demand mechanistic purity and investors demand patentable IP—which has historically prevented the study of complex, non-proprietary combinations. This summary filters the discussed protocols through the lens of available Level A/B evidence, distinguishing between rodent-validated longevity effects and the highly speculative translation to human lifespan.

II. Insight Bullets

  • Combination Logic: Aging consists of multiple distinct types of damage; fixing only one (e.g., senescent cells) leaves others (e.g., mitochondrial decay) to limit lifespan.
  • Rejuvenation vs. Retardation: Damage repair (rejuvenation) is more effective when started late in life compared to damage slowing (retardation), which requires early-life initiation to maximize efficacy.
  • Additive Ceiling: The RMR goal is to triple the current record of 4-month extension in middle-aged mice to 12 months.
  • Inbred Strain Utility: Using inbred (C57BL/6) mice allows for syngeneic cell therapies (bone marrow transplants) without immune rejection or the need for immunosuppressants.
  • Rapamycin Skepticism: De Grey argues that mTOR inhibitors and CR mimetics will have diminishing returns in humans due to evolutionary lack of selection for surviving long famines in long-lived species.
  • HSC Engraftment: Success in RMR1 was achieved even with lower-than-optimal engraftment levels, suggesting paracrine signaling or partial replacement is sufficient for some benefit.
  • Telomerase Efficacy: AAV-mediated TERT delivery has demonstrated the ability to delay age-related pathologies and extend mouse lifespan by up to 24% without increasing cancer risk.
  • D-PUFA Mechanism: Deuterated polyunsaturated fatty acids prevent the non-enzymatic chain reaction of lipid peroxidation by strengthening carbon-hydrogen bonds via the kinetic isotope effect.
  • Smart Caging: Utilizing Olden Labs AI-driven cages allows for high-resolution, autonomous data collection on frailty and activity without technician interference.
  • Female Bias: Results in RMR1 were cleaner in female mice; sexual dimorphism remains a critical confounding variable in longevity pharmacology.
  • Academic Funding Gaps: Traditional NIH-style grants disincentivize combination studies because they are “mechanistically messy” and difficult to publish in top-tier journals.
  • XPrize Focus: Shift toward functional rejuvenation (muscle, immune, cognition) rather than epigenetic “clocks,” which are currently deemed unreliable as primary trial endpoints.
  • Negative Result Transparency: The ITP (Interventions Testing Program) has been criticized for burying negative results (e.g., AKG failure due to low blood concentration) in supplementary data.
  • Cost Management: Shifting trials to jurisdictions like Spain and obtaining reagents via partnerships is necessary to manage the $6M+ cost of large-scale combination trials.
  • HET3 vs. Black 6: Debate persists over whether inbred strains mislead researchers, though de Grey contends Black 6 is sufficiently predictive for most rejuvenation interventions.

IV. Actionable Protocol (Prioritized)

High Confidence Tier (Level A/B Evidence)

  • Rapamycin (mTOR Inhibition): Extends lifespan in every tested model organism. Impact of rapamycin on longevity, 2024. In humans, low-dose pulsed rapamycin is validated to improve immune response to vaccines (Level B).
  • Calorie Restriction (CR): Proven to slow the pace of biological aging in healthy humans by 2-3% in the CALERIE Phase 2 trial. Belsky et al., 2023.

Experimental Tier (Level C/D Evidence - High Safety Margin)

  • Senolytics (Dasatinib + Quercetin): High efficacy in clearing p16-positive cells in mice. Human trials show reductions in senescent cell burden in adipose and skin, but long-term longevity data is absent. NCT04313634.
  • Deuterated Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (D-PUFAs): RT001 has shown safety in clinical trials for neurodegenerative conditions and reduces lipid peroxidation biomarkers. Wikipedia: Isotope effect on lipid peroxidation.
  • Telomerase Gene Therapy: Validated to extend lifespan in wild-type mice without increasing tumor incidence. Human safety data in gene therapy is growing, but longevity applications are strictly experimental. Bernardes de Jesus et al., 2012 / PMC6555470.

Red Flag Zone (Safety Data Absent / Debunked)

  • Total Rejuvenation (Telomere Rivers): Claims of massive (100%+) extension in recent pre-prints have been met with extreme skepticism due to control group early deaths and lack of raw data transparency. Source unverified in live search.
  • Non-Pulsed High-Dose Rapamycin: Risks of immunosuppression and “pseudo-diabetes” (SPD) when utilized without washout periods.
  • Off-Label Combinations: Concurrent use of 8+ interventions has zero human safety data and high risk of antagonistic interactions.

I’m interested in deuterated fatty acids.

1 Like

From Wikipedia
(D-PUFAs)—are currently not available as over-the-counter dietary supplements.
They are considered experimental, novel chemical entities rather than conventional nutrients. Here is a breakdown of their status and availability.

2 Likes