FASTER, PLEASE: Blocking brain protein could stop memory loss caused by ageing.

There might be a way to stave off the memory loss people experience as they get older.

As people age, a protein that disrupts brain cell repair gradually builds up. The offending protein, called beta2-microglobulin (B2M), has now been shown to affect how mice perform in memory tests.

Work is already under way to identify drugs that mop up or destroy B2M which will allow the researchers to test if the same applies to humans. If so, the same drug could offer a solution.

“Right now, the idea is to develop antibodies or small molecules that can either block the effects of the protein or help to remove it from old blood,” says Saul Villeda of the University of California at San Francisco.

Villeda’s discovery is the first detailed investigation of a so-called “anti-elixir” factor, in other words one that builds up with age and causes brain degeneration.

Most research aimed at reversing ageing so far has focused on “elixir” factors – agents that bring back lost youth. For example, when the the blood of young mice is injected into old mice, it halts brain and muscle degeneration, helps fractured bones heal and prevents heart damage.

Ultimately, the best strategy to combat ageing might be through treatments combining “pro-youthful” factors with drugs that neutralise “pro-ageing” factors like B2M.

Well, speed it up, guys. None of us is getting any younger.