Scientists have identified platelet factor 4 (PF4), produced by platelets, as the shared mechanism enhancing cognitive function in young blood transfusion, the longevity hormone klotho, and exercise. PF4 has been found to rejuvenate the aging brain, making old mice cognitively sharper and young mice even smarter.
New research attributes the cognitive benefits of young blood, exercise, and the longevity hormone klotho to platelets. In a remarkable convergence, scientists have discovered that the same blood factor is responsible for the cognitive enhancement that results from young blood transfusion, the longevity hormone klotho, and exercise In a trio of papers appearing in Nature, Nature Aging, and Nature Communications on August 16, 2023, two UCSF teams and a team from the University of Queensland (Australia), identify platelet factor 4 (PF4) as a common messenger of each of these interventions. As its name suggests, PF4 is made by platelets, a type of blood cell that alerts the immune system when there is a wound and helps to form clots. It turns out that PF4 is also a cognitive enhancer. Under its influence, old mice recover the sharpness of middle age and young mice get smarter. “Young blood, klotho, and exercise can somehow tell your brain, “Hey, improve your function,” said Saul Villeda, Ph.D., associate director of the UCSF Bakar Aging Research Institute and the senior author on the Nature paper. “With PF4, we’re starting to understand the vocabulary behind this rejuvenation.” Read more...
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