Specific factors in blood from young but not old mice directly promote synapse formation and NMDA-receptor recruitment.

ABSTRACT: Aging drives a progressive decline in cognition and decreases synapse numbers and synaptic function in the brain, thereby increasing the risk for neurodegenerative disease. Pioneering studies showed that introduction of blood from young mice into aged mice reversed age-associated cognitive impairments and increased synaptic connectivity in brain, suggesting that young blood contains specific factors that remediate age-associated decreases in brain function. However, whether such factors in blood from young animals act directly on neurons to enhance synaptic connectivity, or whether they act by an indirect mechanism remains unknown. Moreover, which factors in young blood mediate cognitive improvements in old mice is incompletely understood. Here, we show that serum extracted from the blood

SUBMITTER: Gan KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6589664 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature