Thomas A. Rando | |
---|---|
Born | 1957 [1] |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Harvard College Harvard Medical School |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Neurology,stem cell biology,biology of aging,regenerative medicine,tissue engineering |
Institutions | Stanford University School of Medicine |
Thomas A. Rando is an American stem cell biologist and neurologist,best known for his research on basic mechanisms of stem cell biology and the biology of aging. He is the Director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research and a professor of Neurology and Molecular,Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California,Los Angeles. [2] Prior to joining the UCLA faculty,he served as Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine,where he was also founding director of the Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging. [3] His additional roles while at Stanford included co-founder and deputy director of the Stanford Center on Longevity,founding director of Stanford's Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinic,and Chief of Neurology at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. [4] [5] [6]
Rando was born in Brooklyn,New York, [1] and grew up in Maine. [7] He earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard College in biochemistry in 1979,and an MD from Harvard Medical School and PhD in cell and developmental biology from Harvard University in 1987. [6] [7] [8] He interned at Massachusetts General Hospital and completed his residency in neurology at the University of California,San Francisco. [9] He joined Stanford's Department of Molecular Pharmacology as a research fellow in 1991,and joined Stanford's medical school faculty in 1995. [8] He relocated to Los Angeles to join the UCLA faculty in 2021. [10] Rando is also a founder of Fountain Therapeutics. [11]
Rando’s research on stem cells has addressed how stem cells in tissues throughout the body maintain their potency to participate in tissue homeostasis and tissue repair throughout the life of an organism. [12] [13] [14] Through these studies,his laboratory has explored the basic mechanisms by which stem cells maintain a dormant,or “quiescent”state,when not engage in generation of new tissue. [15] [16] [17] They have demonstrated how the depth of stem cell quiescence influences the potency of those cells to participate in tissue repair and regeneration. [18] These findings have led to advances in studies of stem cell therapeutics in the broader field of regenerative medicine. [19]
In 2005,Rando’s laboratory was the first to use the technique of heterochronic parabiosis to explore the effects of the systemic circulation on stem cell function. [20] [21] [22] Rando’s group has pioneered studies of the epigenetics of stem cell aging,exploring the role of “epigenetic rejuvenation”as an explanation for the paradigm-shifting findings of heterochronic parabiosis. [23] [24] These studies have revealed how exercise itself can lead to rejuvenation of aged stem cells. [25] Their studies focus on physiologic,pharmacologic,genetic,and dietary interventions to reverse cellular aging and to produce therapies for aging-related diseases. [26] [27] [28]
Rando's research interests also include muscular dystrophies,tissue engineering,and regenerative rehabilitation. [14] [29] [30] [31] [32]
Senescence or biological aging is the gradual deterioration of functional characteristics in living organisms. The word senescence can refer to either cellular senescence or to senescence of the whole organism. Organismal senescence involves an increase in death rates and/or a decrease in fecundity with increasing age,at least in the later part of an organism's life cycle. However,the resulting effects of senescence can be delayed. The 1934 discovery that calorie restriction can extend lifespans by 50% in rats,the existence of species having negligible senescence,and the existence of potentially immortal organisms such as members of the genus Hydra have motivated research into delaying senescence and thus age-related diseases. Rare human mutations can cause accelerated aging diseases.
The G0 phase describes a cellular state outside of the replicative cell cycle. Classically,cells were thought to enter G0 primarily due to environmental factors,like nutrient deprivation,that limited the resources necessary for proliferation. Thus it was thought of as a resting phase. G0 is now known to take different forms and occur for multiple reasons. For example,most adult neuronal cells,among the most metabolically active cells in the body,are fully differentiated and reside in a terminal G0 phase. Neurons reside in this state,not because of stochastic or limited nutrient supply,but as a part of their developmental program.
Dystrophin is a rod-shaped cytoplasmic protein,and a vital part of a protein complex that connects the cytoskeleton of a muscle fiber to the surrounding extracellular matrix through the cell membrane. This complex is variously known as the costamere or the dystrophin-associated protein complex (DAPC). Many muscle proteins,such as α-dystrobrevin,syncoilin,synemin,sarcoglycan,dystroglycan,and sarcospan,colocalize with dystrophin at the costamere. It has a molecular weight of 427 kDa
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe type of muscular dystrophy that primarily affects boys. Muscle weakness usually begins around the age of four,and worsens quickly. Muscle loss typically occurs first in the thighs and pelvis followed by the arms. This can result in trouble standing up. Most are unable to walk by the age of 12. Affected muscles may look larger due to increased fat content. Scoliosis is also common. Some may have intellectual disability. Females with a single copy of the defective gene may show mild symptoms.
Myosatellite cells,also known as satellite cells,muscle stem cells or MuSCs,are small multipotent cells with very little cytoplasm found in mature muscle. Satellite cells are precursors to skeletal muscle cells,able to give rise to satellite cells or differentiated skeletal muscle cells. They have the potential to provide additional myonuclei to their parent muscle fiber,or return to a quiescent state. More specifically,upon activation,satellite cells can re-enter the cell cycle to proliferate and differentiate into myoblasts.
Regenerative medicine deals with the "process of replacing,engineering or regenerating human or animal cells,tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function". This field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by stimulating the body's own repair mechanisms to functionally heal previously irreparable tissues or organs.
Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells,found throughout the body after development,that multiply by cell division to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues. Also known as somatic stem cells,they can be found in juvenile,adult animals,and humans,unlike embryonic stem cells.
Rejuvenation is a medical discipline focused on the practical reversal of the aging process.
Stem-cell therapy uses stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition. As of 2016,the only established therapy using stem cells is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This usually takes the form of a bone marrow transplantation,but the cells can also be derived from umbilical cord blood. Research is underway to develop various sources for stem cells as well as to apply stem-cell treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
A progenitor cell is a biological cell that can differentiate into a specific cell type. Stem cells and progenitor cells have this ability in common. However,stem cells are less specified than progenitor cells. Progenitor cells can only differentiate into their "target" cell type. The most important difference between stem cells and progenitor cells is that stem cells can replicate indefinitely,whereas progenitor cells can divide only a limited number of times. Controversy about the exact definition remains and the concept is still evolving.
p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases are a class of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) that are responsive to stress stimuli,such as cytokines,ultraviolet irradiation,heat shock,and osmotic shock,and are involved in cell differentiation,apoptosis and autophagy. Persistent activation of the p38 MAPK pathway in muscle satellite cells due to ageing,impairs muscle regeneration.
A mesoangioblast is a type of progenitor cell that is associated with vasculature walls. Mesoangioblasts exhibit many similarities to pericytes,which are found in the small vessels. Mesoangioblasts are multipotent stem cells with the potential to progress down the endothelial or mesodermal lineages. Mesoangioblasts express the critical marker of angiopoietic progenitors,KDR (FLK1). Because of these properties,mesoangioblasts are a precursor of skeletal,smooth,and cardiac muscle cells along with endothelial cells. Research has suggested their application for stem cell therapies for muscular dystrophy and cardiovascular disease.
Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11),also known as bone morphogenetic protein 11 (BMP-11),is a protein that in humans is encoded by the growth differentiation factor 11 gene. GDF11 is a member of the Transforming growth factor beta family.
Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte is a Spanish biochemist and developmental biologist. He is a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratories at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla,California since 1993.
Induced stem cells (iSC) are stem cells derived from somatic,reproductive,pluripotent or other cell types by deliberate epigenetic reprogramming. They are classified as either totipotent (iTC),pluripotent (iPSC) or progenitor or unipotent –(iUSC) according to their developmental potential and degree of dedifferentiation. Progenitors are obtained by so-called direct reprogramming or directed differentiation and are also called induced somatic stem cells.
Helen Margaret Blau is an American biologist and the Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Foundation Professor and Director of the Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is known for establishing the reversibility of the mammalian differentiated state. Her landmark papers showed that nuclear reprogramming and the activation of novel programs of gene expression were possible,overturning the prevailing view that the differentiated state was fixed and irreversible. Her discoveries opened the door for cellular reprogramming and its application to stem cell biology.
Amy J. Wagers is the Forst Family Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School,an investigator in islet cell and regenerative biology at the Joslin Diabetes Center,and principal faculty of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. She is co-chair of the Department of Stem Cells and Regenerative Biology at Harvard Medical School.
Regeneration in humans is the regrowth of lost tissues or organs in response to injury. This is in contrast to wound healing,or partial regeneration,which involves closing up the injury site with some gradation of scar tissue. Some tissues such as skin,the vas deferens,and large organs including the liver can regrow quite readily,while others have been thought to have little or no capacity for regeneration following an injury.
Jyotsna Dhawan is an Indian Cell and Developmental Biologist,Emeritus Scientist at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and Visiting Professor,Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem). Dhawan's research has focused on adult stem cell function and skeletal muscle regeneration. Dhawan is the current (2019-2021) President of the Indian Society for Cell Biology and the Indian Society of Developmental Biologists (2017–2020). Dhawan was elected as a fellow to the Indian National Science Academy in 2019.
This timeline lists notable events in the history of research into senescence or biological aging,including the research and development of life extension methods,brain aging delay methods and rejuvenation.
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